•NRLF 


312  100 


The  Gift  of  Beatrix  Farrand 

to  the  General  Library 
University  of  California,  Berkeley 


REEF 

POINT 
GARDENS 
LIBRARY 


DWARF   FRUIT  TREES 


OTHER  BOOKS 
BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 


LANDSCAPE    GARDENING 
PLUMS  AND  PLUM  CULTURE 

FRUIT    HARVESTING,    STOR- 
ING, MARKETING 

SYSTEMATIC   POMOLOGY 


DWARF    CHERRY    TREE 
Two  years  planted 


DWARF 
FRUIT  TREES 


THEIR  PROPAGATION,  PRUNING,  AND 
GENERAL  MANAGEMENT,  ADAPTED 
TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND 
CANADA  :  :  :  :  :  : 


By 
F.    A.  WAUGH 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

ORANGE  JUDD    COMPANY 
1920 


COPYRIC-HT.  1906 

BY  ORANGE  JUDD  COMPANY 


Printed  in  U.  S.  A. 


Add  to  lib; 


PREFACE  ""gg* 

LIBRARY 


THE  commercial  interests  have  so  continuously  and 
completely  held  the  horticultural  stage  in  America  dur- 
ing the  last  two  decades  that  it  has  been  impossible 
for  amateur  horticulture  to  get  in  a  word  edgewise. 
Any  public  speaker  or  writer  has  had  to  talk  about 
several  acres  at  a  time  or  he  would  not  be  listened  to. 
He  has  been  obliged  to  insist  that  his  scheme  would 
pay  on  a  commercial  scale  before  anyone  would  hear, 
much  less  consider,  what  he  had  to  tell. 

But  now  a  change  is  coming.  Different  conditions 
are  already  upon  us.  A  thousand  signs  indicate  the 
new  era.  With  hundreds — yes  thousands — of  men 
and  women  now  horticulture  is  an  avocation,  a  pas- 
time. They  grow  trees  largely  for  the  pleasure  of  it; 
and  their  gardens  are  built  amidst  surroundings  which 
would  make  commercial  pomology  laugh  at  itself. 

And  so  I  undertake  to  offer  the  first  American  fruit 
book  in  a  quarter  century  which  can  boldly  declare 
its  independence  of  the  professional  element  in  fruit 
growing.  I  am  confident  that  dwarf  fruit  trees  have 
some  commercial  possibilities,  but  they  are  of  far 
greater  importance  to  the  small  householder,  the  owner 


392 


viii  PREFACE 

of  the  private  "estate,"  the  village  dweller,  the  subur- 
banite and  the  commuter. 

In  other  words,  while  I  hope  that  all  good  people 
will  be  interested  in  dwarf  fruit  trees  and  that  some 
of  them  will  share  the  enthusiasm  of  which  this  book 
is  begotten,  I  do  not  want  anyone  to  think  that  I 
have  issued  any  guaranty,  expressed  or  implied,  that 
dwarf  trees  will  open  a  paying  commercial  enterprise. 
Because  the  argument  that  a  thing  pays  has  been  so 
long  the  only  recommendation  offered  for  any  horti- 
cultural scheme,  many  persons  have  formed  the  habit 
of  assuming  that  every  sort  of  praise  stands  on  this 
one  foundation. 

F.  A.  WAUGH. 

Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  1906. 


TABLE    OF  CONTENTS 


PREFACE       v 

I.     General  Considerations * 

II.     Advantages  and  Disadvantages 8 

III.  Propagation 22 

IV.  Pruning 33 

V.     Special  Forms 4* 

VI.     General  Management 51 

VII.     Dwarf  Apples 63 

VIII.     Dwarf  Pears 76 

IX.     Dwarf  Peaches .     .  83 

X.     Dwarf  Plums 9° 

XI.     Bush  Fruits 99 

XII.     Fruit  Trees  in  Pots 106 

XIII.     Personalia 112 

Index                        I2.5 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Dwarf  Cherry  Tree Frontispiece 

FIG.  PAGE 

1  Dwarf  Apple  Trees  in  Western  New  York     ....  3 

2  Trained  Cordon  Apple  Trees 5 

3  Bismarck  Apple 7 

4  Pear  Tree  Trained  as  an  Espalier g 

5  Bush  Apple  Tree n 

6  Plums  as  Upright  Cordons 17 

7  Paradise  Apple  Stocks  in  Early  Spring 25 

8  The  Western  Sand  Cherry 30 

9  Upright  Cordon  Plum 31 

10  Bush  Apple 34 

11  Bush  Apple,  Three  Years  Old,  Before  Pruning      .     .  37 

12  Bush  Apple,  Same  Tree,  After  Pruning 37 

13  Cordon  Pears  Before  Pruning 39 

14  Cordon  Pears  After  Pruning 39 

15  Pears  in  Double  U  Form 43 

16  Pears  in  U  Form 4-5 

17  Apricots  in  U  Form 47 

18  Pear  in  Espalier 48 

19  Old  Espalier  Pears  on  Farm  House  Wall        ....  49 

20  Horizontal  Cordon  Apple  and  Other  Dwarf  Trees      .  52 

21  Design  for  a  Back  Yard  Fruit  Garden 53 

22  Dwarf  Fruit  Garden 55 

23  Fruit  Gardening  and  Landscape  Gardening  Combined  59 

24  A  Fruit  Garden  Containing  Many  Dwarf  Trees      .     .  61 

25  Dwarf  Apples  on  Prof.  L.  H.  Bailey's  Farm,  New  York  65 

xi 


xii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIG.  PAGE 

c6  Upright  Cordon  Apples 67 

27  Horizontal  Cordon  Apple  Trees 71 

28  Young  Orchard  of  Dwarf  Pear  in  Western  New  York  76 

29  Dwarf    Pear    in    the    Old    and    Profitable  '  Yeomans 

Orchard,  New  York 77 

30  Orchard  of  Dwarf  Duchess  Pear,  Lockport    N.  Y.       .  79 

31  Pyramid  Pears  in  a  German  Orchard 80 

32  Dwarf  Peach  in  Nursery 84 

33  Espalier  Peach,  Hartford,  Conn 85 

34  Peach  in  Fan  Espalier  on  Wall — England       ....  87 

35  Peach  Trees  Trained  Under  Glass 88 

36  Plum  Trees  Trained  as  Upright  Cordons        ....  91 

37  Burbank  Plums  on  Upright  Cordons  Trained  to  Trellis  95 

38  Currants  as  Fan  Espaliers  on  Trellis 100 

39  Gooseberry  Fan  Espalier 102 

40  Tree  Form  Gooseberry 104 

41  A  Fruiting  Peach  in  Pot 108 

42  A  Fig  Tree  in  a  Pot no 

43  Dwarf  Pear 117 

44  Chenango  Apples  in  Prof.  L.  H.  Bailey's  Orchard     .  121 


DWARF    FRUIT   TREES 


GENERAL    CONSIDERATIONS 

A  DWARF  fruit  tree  is  simply  one  which  does  not 
reach  full  size.  It  is  not  so  large  as  it  might  be  ex- 
pected to  be.  It  is  smaller  than  a  normal  tree  of  the 
same  variety  and  age. 

There  are  indeed  some  trees  which  are  normally 
dwarf,  so  to  speak.  They  never  reach  a  considerable 
size.  They  are  smaller  than  other  better  known  and 
related  species.  For  example,  the  species  Primus  pu- 
mila  besscyi  is  sometimes  called  the  dwarf  sand  cherry, 
simply  because  it  is  always  notably  smaller  than  re- 
lated species.  The  Paradise  apple  is  spoken  of  as  a 
dwarf  because  it  never  attains  the  stature  which  other 
apples  attain. 

But  in  the  technical  sense,  as  the  term  is  used  by 
nurserymen  and  pomologists,  a  dwarf  tree  is  one 
which  is  made,  by  some  artificial  means,  to  grow 
smaller  than  normal  trees  of  the  same  variety. 

These  artificial  means  used  for  making  dwarf  trees 
are  chiefly  three:  (i)  propagation  on  dwarfing  stocks, 


2  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

(2)  repressive  pruning,  and  (3)  training  to  some  pre- 
scribed form. 

DWARFING    STOCKS 

The  most  common  and  important  means  of  secur- 
ing dwarf  trees  is  that  of  propagating  them  on  dwarf- 
ing stocks.  These  are  simply  such  roots  as  make  a 
slower  and  weaker  growth  than  the  trees  from  which 
cions  are  taken.  This  will  be  understood  better  from 
a  concrete  example.  The  quince  tree  normally  grows 
slower  than  the  pear,  and  usually  reaches  about  half 
the  size  at  maturity.  Now  pear  cions  will  unite  read- 
ily with  quince  roots  and  will  grow  in  good  health 
for  many  years.  But  when  a  pear  tree  is  thus  de- 
pendent for  daily  food  on  a  quince  root  it  fares  like 
Oliver  Twist.  It  never  gets  enough.  It  is  always 
starved.  It  makes  considerably  less  annual  growth, 
and  never  (or  at  least  seldom)  reaches  the  size  which 
it  might  have  reached  if  it  had  been  growing  on  a 
pear  root. 

This  is,  somewhat  roughly  stated,  the  whole  theory 
of  dwarfing  fruit  trees  by  grafting  them  on  slow- 
growing  stocks.  The  tree  top  is  always  under-nour- 
ished and  thus  restrained  in  its  ambitious  orowth  of 
branches,  as  seen  in  Fig.  i 

While  the  tree  is  made  thus  smaller  by  being  grafted 
on  a  restraining  root,  it  is  not  affected  in  its  other 
characteristics.  At  least  theoretically  it  is  not.  It 
still  bears  the  same  kind  of  fruit  and  foliage.  Bart- 
lett  pear  trees  budded  on  quince  roots  yield  fruit  true 
to  name.  The  pears  are  still  Bartletts,  and  can  not 
be  told  from  those  grown  on  an  ordinary  tree.  Some- 


GENERAL     CONSIDERATIONS  3 

times  the  fruit  from  •  dwarf  trees  seems  to  be  better 
colored  or  better  flavored  than  that  from  standard 
trees ;  but  such  differences  are  very  delicate  and  usu- 
ally receive  slight  thought. 


FIG.    I — DWARF    APPLE   TREES    IN    WESTERN    NEW    YORK 

Dwarf  fruit  trees  have  not  been  very  largely  grown 
in  America,  but  have  been  much  more  widely  used  in 
Europe.  This  statement  holds  good  either  for  com- 
mercial plantations  or  for  private  fruit  gardens.  They 
are  coming  into  more  common  use  in  this  country 


4  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

because,  in  both  market  orchards  and  amateur  gardens, 
our  pomology  is  coming  to  be  somewhat  more  like 
that  of  Europe.  Our  conditions  are  approaching  those 
of  the  Old  World,  even  though  they  will  always  be 
very  different  from  those  of  Europe  in  horticultural 
matters. 

Dwarf  fruit  trees  are  particularly  valuable  in  small 
gardens;  and  small  gardens  are  becoming  constantly 
more  popular  among  our  urban,  and  especially  our 
suburban,  population.  This  matter  is  discussed  more 
fully  in  another  chapter.  Fruit  of  finer  quality  can 
be  grown  on  dwarf  trees,  as  a  general  rule,  than  can 
usually  be  grown  on  standard  trees.  Every  year  there 
are  more  people  in  America  who  are  willing  to  take 
any  necessary  pains  to  secure  fruit  of  extra  quality. 
This  remark  applies  particularly  to  amateur  fruit 
growers  and  to  owners  of  private  estates  who  grow 
fruit  for  their  own  tables,  but  it  is  no  less  true  of  a 
certain  class  of  fruit  buyers,  especially  in  the  richer 
cities.  Although  $3  a  barrel  is  still  a  high  price  for 
ordinary  good  apples,  sales  of  fancy  apples  at  $3  a 
dozen  fruits  are  by  no  means  infrequent  in  the  city 
markets  every  winter. 

In  this  respect  also  we  are  approaching  European 
conditions.  In  the  markets  of  the  continental  capi- 
tals in  particular  fancy  fruits  are  frequently  sold  at 
prices  which  seem  almost  incredible  to  an  American. 
Single  apples  sometimes  bring  50  cents  to  a  dollar, 
and  peaches  an  equal  price.  Just  recently  a  story  has 
been  going  the  'rounds  of  the  newspapers  that  the 
caterer  for  the  Czar's  table  sometimes  pays  as  high 
as  $15  apiece  for  peaches  for  the  royal  table.  Here- 


6  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

upon  a  solemn  American  editor  remarked  that  if  the 
whole  royal  family  should  live  upon  nothing  but 
peaches  it  would  still  be  cheaper  than  carrying  on  the 
Japanese  war. 

Now  if  there  is  anywhere  within  reach  a  market 
for  apples  or  peaches  at  $3  a  dozen  specimens — and 
there  unquestionably  is — then  it  will  pay  to  grow 
fancy  fruits  with  special  care  to  meet  this  demand. 
This  kind  of  fruit  can  be  grown  better  upon  dwarf 
trees  than  upon  standards  in  many  cases,  if  not  in 
most.  At  least  such  is  the  conviction  of  the  present 
writer.  Moreover  this  has  been  the  experience  in  the 
old  country. 

With  such  facts  in  view  there  seems  to  be  a 
possible  future  for  dwarf  fruit  trees,  even  for  com- 
mercial purposes.  Their  present  utility  in  amateur 
gardens  and  on  wealthy  private  estates  can  not  be 
questioned.  These  various  amateur  and  commercial 
adaptations  of  dwarf  trees  will  have  to  be  more  care- 
fully analyzed  and  discussed  in  a  future  chapter,  and 
the  subject  may  therefore  be  dropped  for  the  present. 


FIG.    3 — BISMARCK    APPLE,    FIRST    YEAR    PLANTED 
22  inches  high  :  bearing  4  fruits 


II 

ADVANTAGES  AND  DISADVANTAGES 

IT  is  a  good  prejudice  which  expects  every  man 
who  writes  anything  to  be  enthusiastic  over  his  sub- 
ject. Such  enthusiasm  doubtless  leads  a  writer  many 
times  to  over-state  his  case,  and  to  claim  more  than 
the  calm  judgment  of  the  multitude  will  ratify.  And 
on  the  other  hand,  readers  usually  tacitly  discount 
the  statements  of  any  man  who  writes  about  any 
matter  in  which  he  is  plainly  interested.  The  present 
writer  knows  that  he  is  also  under  the  ban,  and  that 
the  reader  firmly  expects  him  to  claim  more  for  dwarf 
fruit  trees  than  their  merits  will  fairly  warrant.  This 
expectation  the  writer  hopes  to  disappoint.  It  will 
be  enough  to  set  down  here  the  obvious  advantages 
and  disadvantages  which  the  horticulturist  will  meet 
in  handling  dwarf  fruit  trees.  These  statements  are 
mostly  of  matters  of  common  experience  and  they 
need  no  coloring  to  make  them  serve  their  present 
purpose. 

We  may  fairly  set  down  the  following  good  points 
standing  more  or  less  generally  to  the  credit  of  dwarf 
fruit  trees: 

i.  Early  bearing. — This  is  a  sufficiently  obvious  ad- 
vantage. The  Alexander  apple  will  bear  the  second 
year,,  .after  planting  when  grown  as  a  dwarf,  while 
it  tj|guife  six  to  ten  years  to  come  into  bearing  as  a 
standard.  This  habit  of  early  bearing  proves  valuable 


ADVANTAGES     AND     DISADVANTAGES  9 

in  many  ways.  It  encourages  men  to  plant  trees.  The 
disinclination  of  old  men  to  plant  trees  rests  upon 
the  slenderness  of  the  chance  that  they  will  ever  gather 
of  the  fruit.  But  a  man  may  plant  dwarf  trees  when- 
ever his  expectation  of  life  is  two  years  or  more. 


& 


FIG.    4 — PEAR    TREE,    TRAINED    AS    AN    ESPALIER 

Such  trees  would  serve  octogenarians,  consumptives 
and  those  sentenced  to  be  hanged  for  murder. 

Early  bearing — to  return  to  the  subject — makes 
dwarf  trees  valuable  to  that  large  and  unfortunately 
growing  class  of  citizens  wrho  rent  the  premises  where 
they  live.  They  do  not  expect  to  stay  more  than  five 


IO  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

or  six  years  in  any  one  place.  In  that  length  of  time 
ordinary  trees  would  not  begin  to  yield  any  fruit. 
But  with  dwarf  trees  there  is  excellent  probability 
of  seeing  something  ripen.  Then  again  early  bearing 
is  a  great  advantage  when  one  is  testing  new  or  old 
varieties.  It  is  a  great  advantage  when  a  commercial 
orchard  is  designed  and  when  dwarf  trees  are  used 
for  fillers  as  explained  below.  , 

2.  Small  size. — The  very     smallness  of  the  dwarf 
trees  has  many  advantages  in  it.    The  trees  are  easier 
to  reach  and  to  care  for.    They  are  easier  to  prune  and 
to  spray.    This  facility  in  spraying  is  what  has  chiefly 
recommended  smaller  fruit  trees  to  commercial  fruit 
growers  in  recent  years.     Particularly  in  those  places 
where  the   San  Jose  scale  is  a  perennial   problem  a 
very    large   tree    becomes    an    impossibility,    and   the 
smaller  the  trees  can  be  the  better  it  suits. 

The  small  size  of  dwarf  trees  permits  the  planting 
of  larger  numbers  on  a  given  area.  This  is  specially 
worth  while  to  the  amateur  who  has  a  small  gar- 
den where  only  three  or  four  standard  trees  could 
grow,  but  where  he  can  comfortably  handle  forty  or 
fifty  dwarfs.  Yet  it  is  also  worth  the  consideration 
of  the  commercial  fruit  grower  who  is  trying  to  earn 
a  profit  on  expensive  land.  If  he  can  increase  the 
number  of  bearing  trees  on  each  acre,  especially 
during  the  early  years  of  establishing  his  orchard,  it 
almost  certainly  means  increased  income. 

3.  High  quality. — It  is  not  perfectly    certain    that 
every  kind  of  fruit  can  be  produced  in  higher  quality 
on  dwarf  trees  than  on  standards,  but  such  is  the  gen- 
eral rule.     This  is  notably  true  of  certain  pears,  as 


FIG.    5— BUSH    APPLE    TREE,    THREE    YEARS    PLANTED 


12  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

Buerre  Giffard  and  Doyenne  du  Cornice,  and  it  is 
generally  the  case  with  all  apples  that  can  be  success- 
fully grown  on  Paradise  roots.  One  can  secure  size, 
color,  flavor  and  finish  on  an  Alexander  or  a  Ribston 
Pippin,  for  example,  which  can  never  be  secured  on 
a  standard  tree.  One  who  has  not  seen  this  thing 
done  will  hardly  understand  it;  those  who  have  will 
not  need  more  argument.  Such  plums  as  we  have 
fruited  on  dwarf  trees  have  shown  similar  improvement 
in  quality,  being  always  distinctly  superior  to  the 
same  varieties  grown  on  standard  trees.  The  signifi- 
cance of  these  facts  will  appear  at  once  to  any  one 
familiar  with  the  course  of  the  fruit  markets  in  Amer- 
ica. There  are  greater  rewards  awaiting  the  fruit 
grower  who  can  produce  fruit  of  superior  quality  than 
the  one  who  succeeds  merely  in  increasing  the  quan- 
tity of  his  output. 

SPECIAL  USES   FOR  DWARF  TREES 

These  various  items  of  advantage  recommend  dwarf 
fruit  trees  for  several  specific  purposes,  some  of  which 
are  worth  pointing  out  in  detail. 

I.  For  suburban  places. — A  large  and  increasing 
percentage  of  our  population  now  lives  the  suburban 
life — in  that  zone  where  city  and  country  meet.  They 
have  small  tracts  of  land,  which,  however,  they  too 
often  lease  instead  of  owning.  On  these  they  do 
more  or  less  gardening, — usually  more,  in  proportion 
to  the  size  of  their  holdings.  For  them  dwarf  fruit 
trees  are  a  precious  boon.  It  is  possible  to  plant  three 
hundred  to  five  hundred  dwarf  fruit  trees  on  a  quarter 
of  an  acre,  where  less  than  a  dozen  standard  trees 


ADVANTAGES     AND     DISADVANTAGES  13 

would  flourish.  This  gives  the  opportunity  to  experi- 
ment with  all  sorts  and  varieties  of  fruits,  a  privilege 
very  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  commuter.  The  dwarf 
fruit  trees  also  work  more  readily  into  a  scheme  of 
more  or  less  ornamental  gardening,  where  fruits  are 
combined  with  vegetables  and  flowers.  Especially  if 
some  sort  of  formal  gardening  is  attempted,  the  cor- 
dons, espaliers  and  pyramids  exactly  suit  the  de- 
mands. Then  the  fact,  already  mentioned,  that  the 
dwarf  trees  come  into  bearing  much  sooner,  is  a 
consideration  of  the  highest  value  to  the  suburban 
gardener.  He  fully  expects  to  move  from  one  home 
to  another  at  least  once  in  ten  years,  if  not  once  in  five. 
With  the  best  of  intentions  and  the  most  favorable 
of  opportunities  he  can  hardly  expect  to  settle  down 
anywhere  for  life.  The  suburbs  themselves  change 
too  rapidly  for  that;  and  the  place  which  today  is 
away  off  in  the  country  may  be  all  covered  with  fac- 
tories five  years  from  now.  It  is  terribly  discourag- 
ing, under  such  circumstances,  to  plant  a  tree  knowing 
that  ten  years  must  pass  before  any  considerable  fruit- 
age can  be  expected  from  it.  It  is  altogether  another 
feeling  with  which  one  plants  a  tree  which  promises 
fruit  within  two  or  three  years. 

So  that,  whatever  the  drawbacks  to  the  planting  of 
dwarfs,  they  are  the  salvation  of  the  suburban  garden. 
For  such  circumstances  they  can  be  freely  recom- 
mended, without  exception  or  reservation. 

2.  For  orchard  fillers. — As  commercial  orcharding 
becomes  more  refined,  under  the  stress  of  modern  com- 
petition, and  as  good  orchard  land  increases  in  value, 
up  to  one  hundred,  two  hundred,  or  even  three  hun- 


14  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

dred  dollars  an  acre,  new  methods  must  be  adopted 
with  a  view  to  increasing  the  returns.  This  oppor- 
tunity looms  especially  large  for  the  first  few  years 
after  the  establishment  of  the  commercial  orchard, 
more  particularly  the  apple  orchard.  When  standard 
trees  are  planted  thirty-five  to  the  acre,  which  is  now 
the  usual  practice,  the  land  is  not  more  than  one- 
fourth  occupied  for  the  first  five  years,  and  not  more 
than  half  occupied  for  the  first  ten  years.  Indeed  it 
is  full  twenty  years  from  the  time  of  planting  before 
the  thirty-five  apple  trees  will  use  the  whole  acre.  And 
since  a  good  farmer  can  not  afford  to  let  expensive 
land  lie  idle  he  has  before  him  a  very  pretty  problem 
to  determine  how  the  space  between  the  standard 
trees  shall  be  utilized  during  the  early  years  of  the 
orchard's  growth. 

Several  different  methods  are  in  vogue  for  the  solu- 
tion of  this  problem;  but  probably  the  best  one  is 
that  system  which  supplies  fillers  or  temporary  trees 
between  the  standard  or  permanent  ones.  In  an  or- 
chard of  standard  apple  trees  these  fillers  may  very 
properly  be  dwarf  apple  trees;  or  between  standard 
pears  dwarf  pears  may  be  planted.  If  there  are  thirty- 
five  standard  apple  trees  to  an  acre,  and  if  a  dwarf 
tree  is  placed  half  way  between  each  two  standards 
in  every  direction,  including  the  diagonal  direction, 
this  will  make  one  hundred  and  five  dwarf  trees,  or 
one  hundred  and  forty  trees  in  all,  instead  of  the 
thirty-five  trees  with  which  the  acre  of  apple  orchard 
land  is  more  commonly  furnished.  The  dwarf  apple 
trees  will  be  bearing  good  crops  at  the  end  of  five  years 
at  most;  and  they  can  be  kept  on  the  land  for  five 


ADVANTAGES     AND     DISADVANTAGES  15 

years  longer  at  the  least,  before  they  will  begin  to 
crowd  the  permanent  standards.  During  these  five 
years,  if  the  orchard  has  a  paying  management  at  all, 
they  will  easily  pay  all  the  expenses  of  the  enterprise, 
and  should  leave  a  substantial  balance  of  profit. 

As  this  system  of  filling,  or  interplanting,  commer- 
cial orchards  is  becoming  more  and  more  common,  the 
suitability  of  dwarf  trees,  for  this  purpose,  becomes 
more  generally  evident. 

3.  For  school  gardens. — Thus   far  school  gardens 
in  America  have  been  mostly  temporary  and  experi- 
mental affairs.    But  we  are  already  satisfied  that  they 
have  come  to  stay,  and  that  gardening  in  some  form 
will  be  a  permanent  feature  of  the  curriculum  in  many 
of  our  best  schools.     As  soon  as  a  school  garden  be- 
comes  a   permanent   institution,   with   ground   of   its 
own  to  be  held  in  use  year  after  year,  the  dependence 
on  annual  crops  will  give  way  to  the  use  of  various 
perennial  plants,  shrubs  and  trees. 

And  among  these  dwarf  fruit  trees  will  naturally 
be  one  of  the  first  introductions.  Their  small  size 
adapts  them  to  the  school  premises,  their  habit  of 
early  bearing  again  serves  to  recommend  them  most 
strikingly,  and  the  special  opportunity  which  they 
offer  to  pupils  to  observe  details  of  pruning  and  other 
items  of  tree  management,  make  them  almost  a  first 
necessity  in  the  permanent  school  garden. 

4.  For  covering  walls  and  fences. — There  are  many 
places  about  every  farm,  suburban  establishment,  or 
even  about  many  city  homes,  where  back  walls  and 
fences  could  be  put  out  of  sight  very  agreeably  by 
almost  any  sort  of  foliage.    Various  ornamental  climb- 


16  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

ers  and  creepers  are  in  vogue  for  this  service ;  but  a 
certain  number  of  such  unattractive  walls  and  fences 
could  be  treated  quite  as  acceptably,  from  the  esthetic 
point  of  view,  with  trained  fruit  trees,  and  the  result 
would  be  more  satisfactory  in  some  other  ways.  Ap- 
ples or  pears  trained  as  cordons  or  espaliers,  or  peaches, 
nectarines,  or  cherries  in  fan  forms,  will  thrive  on 
almost  any  brick  or  wooden  wall,  except  those  with 
a  northern  front.  It  is  necessary  only  to  supply  a 
proper  soil,  to  plant  sound  trees  of  proper  sorts, 
and  to  give  them  the  prescribed  care.  The  result  is 
not  only  a  thing  of  beauty  but  one  of  practical  utility 
as  well. 

There  are  many  places  where  the  owner  of  a  city 
or  suburban  lot  can  secure  the  fun  and  the  substantial 
benefits  belonging  to  the  fruit  grower  on  land  that 
would  be  otherwise  wasted,  if  he  will  only  build  a 
woven  wire  fence  on  the  property  line  between  him 
and  his  not-too-agreeable  neighbor,  using  this  fence 
as  a  support  for  a  row  of  cordon  plums,  pears  or  apples. 
If  he  has  time  and  inclination  to  do  a  little  more  work 
with  the  trees  he  can  better  plant  U-form  peaches, 
nectarines  or  apricots,  or  he  can  grow  plums  in  U-form, 
or  he  can  have  fan-form  cherry  trees,  or  apples  or 
pears  in  Verrier-palmettes.  One  of  the  most  interest- 
ing and  productive  lots  in  the  author's  dwarf  fruit 
garden  is  a  row  of  plum  trees  on  such  a  woven  wire 
trellis.  The  trees  in  this  row  stand  two  feet  apart, 
and  form  a  perfect  screen.  (Fig.  6.)  The  majority  of 
the  trees  which  were  necessarily  taken  for  planting 
this  row  were  not  propagated  on  suitable  stocks,  and 
many  varieties  were  introduced  for  experimental  pur- 


ADVANTAGES     AND     DISADVANTAGES  1 7 

poses  which  were  obviously  unadapted  to  this  mode 
of  training,  but  nevertheless  the  net  result  has  been 
highly  satisfactory. 


FIG.    6 — PLUMS    AS    UPRIGHT    CORDONS,    SET    TWO    FEET    APART 

In  a  very  similar  manner  apple,  pear  or  plum  trees 
may  be  trained  so  as  to  form  an  arched  arbor  way. 
In  this  kind  of  make-up  they  present  a  most  agree- 


18  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

able  novelty.  An  example  of  this  kind  of  training  is 
shown  in  the  illustration,  page  5.  For  this  purpose 
cordon  trees  are  usually  best ;  though  peach  or  apri- 
cot trees  in  U-form  or  double  U-form  will  answer 
very  well.  Even  apple  trees  or  pears  formed  as  pal- 
mettes-Verrier  can  be  carried  up  over  an  arched  trellis. 
Mr.  Geo.  Bunyard  in  'The  Fruit  Garden"  tells  of 
carrying  apple  trees  up  over  the  slate  roof  of  an  out- 
building, with  marked  success.  The  fruit-bearing 
portion  of  the  trees,  lying  there  on  the  slate  roof 
beautifully  exposed  to  the  sun  above,  and  assisted 
by  the  heat  absorbed  and  radiated  by  the  slate,  yielded 
large  crops  of  apples  of  very  superior  quality. 

SOME  DISADVANTAGES 

There  are,  of  course,  some  disadvantages  in  growing 
dwarf  fruit  trees,  and  these  should  be  examined  with 
as  much  care  as  the  advantages.  The  more  important 
ones  are  as  follows: 

i.  Greater  expense. — The  trees  are  somewhat  harder 
to  propagate,  and  therefore  cost  more.  There  is  no 
general  demand  for  them  in  America,  so  that  they 
are  carried  by  only  a  few  nurseries  and  are  not  looked 
upon  as  staple  goods  even  with  those  dealers;  and 
on  this  account  the  price  is  necessarily  increased.  Thus 
each  tree  costs  more  than  a  similar  tree  of  the  same 
age  and  variety  propagated  in  the  usual  way.  But  the 
greatest  increase  of  expense  comes  from  the  fact  that 
many  more  trees  are  required  to  plant  the  same  area. 
There  is  often  an  advantage,  as  already  argued,  in 
planting  more  trees  to  the  acre,  but  it  costs  something 
to  gain  this  advantage.  An  acre  of  ground  can  be 


ADVANTAGES     AND     DISADVANTAGES  19 

planted  with  thirty-five  standard  apple  trees  set  thirty- 
five  feet  apart  each  way,  and  these  trees  will  cost, 
roughly  estimating  retail  prices  at  $12  a  hundred,  $4.20. 
To  plant  an  acre  to  dwarf  apple  trees,  setting  them 
six  feet  apart  each  way,  which  is  about  as  thick  as 
these  trees  should  ever  be  planted,  will  require  1,210 
trees.  Estimating  the  retail  price  roughly  at  $15  a 
hundred  this  would  make  the  first  cost  $181.50 — a 
considerably  greater  initial  investment  in  the  orchard. 

2.  The  trees  are  shorter  lived. — This  statement  is 
true  for  certain  kinds  of  dwarf  trees,  but  not  for  others. 
Certain  varieties  of  pears,  for  example,  which  do  not 
unite  well  with  the  quince  root,  naturally  make  short 
lived   trees.      On   the   other   hand   other   varieties   of 
pears  appear  to  live  as  long  and  thrive  fully  as  well 
on  quince  roots  as  on  pear  roots.    There  is  a  common 
belief,  especially  in  England,  that  apples  worked  on 
French  paradise  roots  are  apt  to  be  short-lived.     The 
nurserymen   who  hold  this  belief   contend,   however, 
that   the   so-called   English   Paradise,   more   properly 
called  Doucin,  supplies  a  stock  on  which  apples  will 
live  to  as  great  an  age  as  on  any  other  stock  what- 
ever.    There  is  some  evidence  to  show  that  vigorous 
varieties  of  plums  worked  on  Americana  roots  or  on 
dwarf  sand  cherry  are  shorter  lived  xhan  the   same 
varieties   on   freer  growing  stocks.      In  many  cases, 
however,  dwarf  trees  live  as  long  as  standards ;  and 
in  almost  all  cases  they  live  long  enough. 

3.  They  require  more  care. — This  objection  stands 
particularly  against  the  dwarf  trees  trained  in  special 
and  intricate  forms.     Such  trees  undoubtedly  do  re- 
quire more  careful  attention,   more   frequent  going- 


20  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

over,  and  more  hand  work  in  the  course  of  the  year. 
It  is  probably  not  true  that  apples,  pears,  plums  or 
peaches  in  bush  or  pyramid  forms  require  any  more 
labor  or  attention  than  standard  trees  to  secure  equally 
good  results.  On  the  other  hand  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten, as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  that  whatever 
care  may  be  required  is  much  more  easily  given  the 
dwarf  trees  than  the  standards. 

4.  They  are  not  a  commercial  success. — This  state- 
ment, too,  though  undoubtedly  having  some  truth  in 
it,  can  not  stand  without  qualification.  It  is  certainly 
true  that  no  one  could  grow  ordinary  varieties  of 
apples,  like  Baldwin  or  Ben  Davis  for  instance,  on 
dwarf  trees  in  competition  with  men  who  are  growing 
the  same  varieties  on  standards.  It  is  probably  true 
that  fancy  varieties  of  apples  can  be  grown  with  profit 
on  dwarf  trees,  but  even  this  can  not  be  strongly  urged. 
So  far  as  apples  are  concerned  the  chief  value  of 
dwarf  trees  for  modern  commercial  enterprises  in 
America  will  come  through  their  use  as  fillers  between 
rows  of  standard  trees.  In  the  case  of  pears  the 
situation  is  somewhat  more  favorable  to  dwarf  trees. 
There  are  a  number  of  orchards  in  this  country  where 
pears  have  been  successfully  grown  for  market,  these 
many  years,  on  dwarf  trees.  The  famous  and  every- 
where planted  Bartlett  succeeds  admirably  on  the 
quince  stock  wherever  the  soil  is  suited  to  it.  No 
successful  commercial  orchards  of  dwarf  peaches  or 
plums  can  be  cited  in  this  country,  individual  trees 
of  these  kinds  even  being  extremly  rare ;  yet  there 
is  good  reason  to  suppose  that  under  favorable  condi- 
tions dwarf  peaches  and  plums  may  have  some  com- 


ADVANTAGES    AND    DISADVANTAGES  21 

mercial  value.  Such  value  may  be  more  in  the  way 
of  supplementing  standard  trees  than  in  superseding 
them,  but  it  is  still  worth  consideration.  So  that, 
after  all,  when  we  say  that  dwarf  fruit  trees  are  not 
a  commercial  success  we  mean  merely  that  they  will 
not  take  the  place  of  standard  trees.  The  large  market 
orchards  must  always  continue  to  be  made  up  of  stan- 
dard trees ;  but  in  their  own  way  the  dwarf  trees  will 
find  a  limited  place  even  in  commercial  operations, 
and  this  use  of  them  seems  destined  to  be  more  general 
in  the  future  than  it  has  been  in  the  past. 


Ill 

PROPAGATION 

THE  propagation  of  dwarf  fruit  trees  is  in  some 
senses  a  more  critical  and  interesting  problem  than  the 
propagation  of  ordinary  nursery  stock.  The  success- 
ful production  of  a  dwarf  fruit  tree  depends  primarily 
on  its  propagation.  The  selection  of  stocks  for  dwarf- 
ing purposes  is  necessarily  a  complicated  matter. 
Under  the  terms  of  the  problem  it  is  impossible  that 
the  stock  and  the  cion  which  are  wedded  together 
should  be  very  closely  related.  The  stock  must  be 
distinctly  different  and  pronouncedly  dwarfer  in  his 
habit  of  growth. 

It  is  not  always  an  easy  matter  to  find  a  stock 
which  is  thus  distinctly  different  from  the  tree  which 
it  is  desired  to  grow  and  which  will  at  the  same  time 
form  with  it  a  vigorous  and  long  lived  union.  It  is 
necessary  further  that  the  propagation  can  be  carried 
on  with  ease  and  with  a  fair  degree  of  success  in  com- 
mercial nurseries.  If  difficult  methods  of  grafting 
are  required,  or  if  only  a  small  stand  of  nursery  trees 
can  be  secured,  the  undertaking  becomes  too  expen- 
sive from  the  nurseryman's  point  of  view. 

The  methods  of  propagating  dwarf  trees  are  for  the 
most  part  the  same  as  those  used  in  reproducing  the 
same  kinds  of  fruit  on  standard  stocks.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  nearly  all  dwarf  trees  are  propagated  by  bud- 
ding. Apples,  pears,  and  plums  can  be  readily  grafted, 


PROPAGATION  23 

but  budding  is  simpler,  speedier,  and  usually  the 
cheaper  process  in  the  nursery.  In  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  where  plums  are  somewhat  extensively 
worked  on  Americana  plum  roots,  grafting  is  rather 
common.  The  side  graft  and  the  whip  graft  are  the 
forms  most  used. 

The  theory  of  the  production  of  a  dwarf  fruit  tree 
by  the  restraining  of  its  growth  has  already  been 
mentioned  in  another  chapter.  The  dwarf  stock 
simply  supplies  less  food  than  is  required  for  the 
normal  growth  of  the  variety  under  propagation,  and 
the  tree  is,  in  a  sense,  starved  or  stunted  into  its  dwarf 
stature. 

As  the  selection  of  proper  stocks — the  adaptation 
of  stock  to  cion — is  one  of  the  fundamental  problems 
in  dwarf  fruit  growing,  we  may  now  address  our- 
selves to  that.  We  will  take  up  the  different  classes 
of  fruit  in  order. 

THE  APPLE 

Everyone  who  has  observed  the  wild  or  native 
apples  which  grow  in  New  England  pastures  must 
frequently  have  noticed  certain  dwarf  and  slow-grow- 
ing specimens.  It  it  not  difficult  to  find  such  which 
do  not  reach  a  height  of  five  feet  in  ten  years  of 
unobstructed  growth.  If  the  cions  of  ordinary  varie- 
ties of  apples  like  Greening  and  Winesap  should  be 
grafted  upon  these  stocks,  the  result  would  be  a  dwarf 
Greening  or  Winesap.  If  these  dwarf  wild  apples 
could  be  produced  with  certainty  and  at  a  low  price, 
they  would  furnish  a  source  of  supply  for  dwarf  apple 
stocks. 


24  DWARF     FRUIV     TREES 

The  Paradise  apple  so-called  (Fig.  7)  is  simply  one 
of  these  dwarf  varieties  which  can  be  reproduced  freely 
and  cheaply.  This  reproduction  is  secured  nearly  al- 
ways by  means  of  mound  layerage.  As  the  variety 
does  not  come  true  to  seed,  any  more  than  such  varie- 
ties as  King  or  Hubbardston  do,  some  such  method 
of  propagation  is  necessary.  This  Paradise  apple  is 
naturally  inclined  to  stool  out  somewhat  from  the 
roots.  This  habit  is  encouraged  by  cutting  the  plants 
back  to  the  ground.  When  the  young  shoots  are 
thrown  up  they  are  banked  up  with  a  hoe  or  by 
plowing  furrows  up  against  the  rows  of  plants.  The 
young  shoots  then  form  roots  at  the  base  and  these 
rooted  shoots  or  layers  are  removed  when  one  year 
old.  They  are  then  planted  in  nursery  rows  in  the 
spring,  where  they  are  usually  budded  the  following 
July  or  August. 

These  Paradise  stocks  are  largely  grown  in  France. 
Practically  all  the  supply  comes  from  that  country. 
The  nurserymen  who  grow  dwarf  apple  trees  in  Ame- 
rica import  their  stocks  from  France  during  the  winter, 
plant  them  in  nursery  rows  early  in  the  spring,  bud 
the  stocks  the  following  July  or  August,  and  have 
the  dwarf  apple  trees  for  sale  the  second  year  follow- 
ing. 

This  Paradise  is  the  dwarfest  stock  known  for 
apples.  Its  effect  on  nearly  all  varieties  is  very  marked, 
causing  them  to  form  very  small  trees  and  to  bear 
very  early.  Some  of  the  more  vigorous  varieties,  like 
Northern  Spy  for  instance,  do  not  submit  kindly  to 
such  treatment.  For  this,  or  possibly  for  more  rec- 
ondite reasons,  a  few  varieties  do  not  succeed  well  on 


FIG.    7— PARADISE    APPLE    STOCKS    IN    EARLY    SPRING 


26  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

Paradise  roots.  The  writer  would  be  glad  to  give 
a  list  of  such  varieties  which  are  not  adapted  to  the 
Paradise  stock,  but  confesses  he  is  unable  to  do  so. 

The  Doucin  stock  is  simply  another  variety  of  dwarf 
apple.  It  is  more  vigorous  and  larger  growing  than 
the  Paradise,  and,  therefore,  produces  a  tree,  when 
ordinary  varieties  are  grafted  upon  it,  about  midway 
in  size  between  the  ordinary  standard  apple  and  the 
same  variety  growing  upon  Paradise. 

This  Doucin  is  sometimes  called  the  English  or 
Broad-Leaved  Paradise,  but  this  name  is  misleading. 
It  will  be  well  to  remember  this  in  buying  stocks  or 
in  buying  trees  in  England.  -Dwarf  apples  are  largely 
propagated  in  England,  but  the  trees  which  are  said 
to  be  on  Paradise  roots  are  often  on  Doucin.  This 
confusion  comes  about  from  the  Englishman's  habit 
of  calling  Doucin  the  Broad- Leaved  Paradise. 

The  Doucin  is  perhaps  better  for  the  free-growing 
bush  form  trees,  especially  where  excessive  dwarfing 
is  not  needed.  For  orchard  planting  in  the  United 
States  this  Doucin  stock  would  be  likely  to  suit  many 
growers  better  than  Paradise.  For  trees  which  are 
to  be  kept  within  very  narrow  bounds,  or  those  which 
are  to  be  trained  in  particular  forms,  the  Paradise 
stock  is  better.  For  all  sorts  of  cordon  apple  trees, 
the  Paradise  is  essential. 

THE  PEAR 

Dwarf  pears  are  always  propagated  on  quince  roots. 
Any  kind  of  a  quince  may  be  used  as  a  stock  for  pears, 
but  the  one  commonly  employed  by  nurserymen  is  the 
Angers  quince,  named  after  Angers,  France,  from 


PROPAGATION  2? 

which  place  the  supply  largely  comes.  Almost  all 
the  quince  stocks  used  by  nurserymen  in  America  are 
imported  from  France.  As  in  dealing  with  apple 
stocks,  the  importation  is  made  during  the  winter,  the 
stocks  are  planted  in  nursery  rows  in  the  early  spring, 
and  are  usually  budded  in  July  or  August  of  the  same 
year. 

A  few  varieties  of  pears  do  not  make  good  unions 
with  the  quince.  In  some  cases  this  antipathy  is  over- 
come by  the  expedient  of  double- working.  The  quince 
root  is  first  budded  with  some  variety  which  unites 
\vell  with  it.  After  this  pear  cion  has  grown  one  year, 
the  refractory  variety  is  budded  upon  this  pear  shoot. 
The  complete  tree,  when  it  leaves  the  nursery,  con- 
sists of  three  pieces, — a  quince  root  below,  a  pear 
top  above,  and  a  short  section  of  only  one  or  two 
inches  in  length  of  some  other  variety  of  pear  which 
simply  holds  together  the  two  essential  parts  of  the 
tree. 

This  practise  of  double-working  is  sometimes  under- 
taken with  other  kinds  of  fruit  for  special  purposes. 
There  are  no  other  cases,  however,  in  which  it  be- 
comes a  generally  recognized  commercial  practise. 

THE  PEACH 

The  peach  is  dwarfed  by  budding  it  upon  almost  any 
kind  of  a  plum  root,  especially  upon  the  smaller  grow- 
ing species  of  plums.  The  stock  most  used  is  the 
ordinary  Myrobalan  plum.  This  is  simply  because 
the  Myrobalan  stock  is  commoner  and  cheaper.  The 
St.  Julien  plum  probably  furnishes  a  better  dwarfing 


28  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

stock  for  peaches,  but  it  is  more  expensive  and  harder 
to  work. 

The  Americana  plum,  now  somewhat  largely  grown 
for  stocks  in  the  States  of  the  upper  Mississippi  valley, 
furnishes  a  good  dwarfing  stock  for  the  peach.  Ac- 
cording to  the  writer's  experience  the  Americana  stock 
gives  better  results  with  peaches  than  either  Myrobalan 
or  St.  Julien.  It  should  be  observed  that  this  stock 
requires  budding  rather  early  in  the  season. 

The  dwarf  sand  cherry,  which  is  further  discussed 
below  under  plums,  also  makes  a  good  stock  for 
peaches.  As  this  stock  is  very  dwarf,  it  produces  the 
smallest  possible  peach  tree.  The  peach  cion  rapidly 
overgrows  the  stock  and  the  tree  can  hardly  be  ex- 
pected to  be  long  lived.  The  growth  is  very  vigorous 
and  satisfactory  during  early  years,  however.  I  have 
not  had  an  opportunity  to  determine  how  long  peaches 
will  live  and  thrive  on  this  stock. 

Nectarines  can  be  grown  in  dwarf  form  in  exactly 
the  same  manner  employed  for  peaches. 

THE  PLUM 

In  all  the  old  books  it  is  said  that  dwarf  plum  trees 
are  secured  by  working  on  Myrobalan  stocks.  This 
statement  is  hardly  true  according  to  our  present 
standards,  and  is  certainly  far  from  satisfactory.  This 
rule  came  into  vogue  at  the  time  when  only  large 
growing  Domestica  plums  were  propagated  in  this 
country  and  the  stocks  used  were  mostly  either  "horse 
plums"  or  Myrobalan.  The  Myrobalan  stock  does 
give  a  somewhat  smaller  tree  than  the  old  fashioned 
horse  plums;  but  this  Myrobalan  stock  has  been  for 


PROPAGATION  29 

many  years  the  one  principally  used  for  propagating 
all  kinds  of  plums  in  America.  It  has  come  to  be 
looked  upon  as  -a  standard  rather  than  a  dwarf  stock. 
When  we  think  of  dwarf  trees,  therefore,  we  expect 
.to  see  something  smaller  than  what  will  grow  under 
ordinary  circumstances  on  a  Myrobalan  root. 

The  Americana  plum,  already  mentioned,  is  a  first- 
rate  stock  in  nearly  all  respects  except  that  it  can  not 
be  bought  so  cheaply  as  the  Myrobalan.  It  is  now 
grown  to  a  considerable  extent  by  nurserymen  in 
Minnesota,  Iowa  and  the  neighboring  States.  If 
grafted,  or  budded  early,  all  varieties  of  plums  take 
well  upon  it.  The  trees  on  Americana  roots  make 
a  good  growth  in  the  nursery  and  are  easily  trans- 
planted. The  tree  produced  on  this  stock  is  only 
moderately  dwarf.  Still  this  dwarfing  effect  is  always 
well  marked,  this  result  being  shown  by  the  over- 
growing of  the  cion.  The  top  thus  appears  to  out- 
grow the  root,  and  such  trees  are  apt  to  blow  over 
during  wind  storms.  Suitable  precautions  should  be 
taken  to  guard  against  damage  of  this  sort. 

Prof.  A.  T.  Erwin  of  Iowa  writes  on  this  subject 
as  follows: 

"Regarding  the  Americana  as  a  plum  stock,  I  would 
state  that  we  are  using  it  by  the  thousands  out  here; 
in  fact,  have  about  quit  using  anything  else.  As  a 
stock  for  the  European  and  Japanese  sorts,  it  does 
dwarf  them,  and  the  cion  tends  to  outgrow  the  stock 
at  the  point  of  union,  causing  an  enlargement..  The 
union  is  also  not  very  congenial,  and  they  frequently 
break  off  on  account  of  high  winds.  However,  in  my 


DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 


experience  and  observation,  this  is  not  the  case  when 
the  Americana  is  used  as  a  stock  for  Americana 
varieties.  It  does  not  dwarf  the  trees  seriously  and 

the  union  is  splendid.  It 
is  by  all  odds  the  best 
stock  we  have  for  plums, 
and  since  we  do  not 
grow  anything  but  Amer- 
icana varieties,  it  works 
first  rate.  It  does*  tend 
to  sprout  some,  though 
there  is  little  trouble  in 
this  regard  after  the 
trees  come  into  bearing." 

The  sand  cherry  seems 
to  be  the  dwarfing  stock 
par  excellence  for  the 
plum.  This  sand  cherry 
is  a  heterogeneous  spe- 
cies, or  as  some  botanists 
think,  is  three  species, 
ranging  throughout  the 
Northern  States  from 
Maine  to  Colorado.  The 
narrow  leaf  upright  form 
growing  about  five  feet 

tall,  known  as  Prunus  pumila,  is  found  along  the 
Atlantic  coast.  The  broad  leafed  dwarfer  form  known 
as  Prunus  pumila  besseyi  or  P.  besseyi,  is  found  in 
the  Western  States.  Another  rarer  form  of  more  ir- 


FIG.  8 
•THE  WESTERN  SAND  CHERRY 

Prunus  pumila  besseyi 


'ROPAGATION 


regular  growth  known  as  Pruuus  pumila  cuneata,  or 
as  P.  cuneata,  is  found  in  the  North  Central  States. 

All  of  these  different  forms  may  be  used  for  prop- 
agating  plums  or 
peaches.  The  western 
form  (P.  besseyi)  (Fig. 
8)  is  in  some  respects 
the  best,  producing  the 
dwarfest  and  apparently 
the  best  trees.  In  our 
experience,  however, 
nearly  all  varieties  of 
plums  and  peaches  give 
a  better  stand  of  trees 
when  budded  on  P.  pu- 
mila. Primus  cuneata  is 
inferior  to  the  others. 

The  eastern  form,  P. 
pumila,  has  another  ad- 
vantage from  the  stand- 
point of  the  nurseryman 
in  that  it  is  more  easily 
propagated  from  cut- 
tings. For  the  most  part 
the  western  sand  cherry 
is  propagated  from  seed. 
Both  forms  can  be  prop- 
agated from  layers. 

NURSERY    MANAGEMENT 

Dwarf  trees  are  managed  in  the  nursery  very  much 
the  same  as  standards  of  the  same  varieties.  There 
are  no  special  points  to  be  observed  except  in  the 


FIG.  9— UPRIGHT  CORDON   PLUM 
With  buds  set  into  the  naked  trunk 


32  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

formation  of  the  tops.  Western  New  York  nursery- 
men, who  now  grow  the  principal  supply  of  dwarf 
apple  and  pear  trees,  have  the  custom  of  forming  their 
nursery  stock  with  high  heads.  That  is,  the  heads 
are  formed  at  a  height  of  eighteen  inches  to  three 
feet  from  the  ground.  In  this  matter  the  pattern  is 
taken  after  the  usual  style  of  standard  trees.  This 
is  quite  wrong.  Of  course,  .some  planters  might  like 
to  have  dwarf  trees  with  trunks  two  or  three  feet  tall, 
but  the  best  form  has  a  much  shorter  stem.  At  any 
rate  the  buyer  of  dwarf  trees  ought  to  be  at  liberty 
to  form  the  head  within  three  or  four  inches  of  the 
ground  if  he  so  desires.  This  becomes  very  difficult 
if  the  tree  is  once  pruned  up  to  a  height  of  two  or 
three  feet. 

In  order  that  the  planter  may  reach  his  own  ideal 
perfectly  in  this  matter,  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to 
buy  one  year  old  trees,  what  the  English  nurserymen 
call  maidens.  This,  of  course,  enables  the  tree  planter 
to  form  the  head  wherever  he  desires. 


IV 
PRUNING  DWARF  FRUIT  TREES 

THE  pruning  of  dwarf  fruit  trees  is  a  matter  of  the 
greatest  consequence,  for  on  proper  pruning  depend 
both  the  form  and  the  productivity  of  the  trees.  Some 
of  the  details  of  management  will  be  explained  in  the 
succeeding  chapters,  dealing  with  the  particular  kinds 
of  fruits,  but  a  few  general  statements  should  be  set 
down  here. 

1.  The  trees  are  severely  headed  in.     This  applies 
more  particularly  to  bush  and  pyramid  forms.     By  the 
term  "heading  in"  we  refer  to  the  shortening  of  the 
leaders.      Such    shortening    is    usually    given    at    the 
spring   pruning,   while   the   trees  are   dormant.      The 
leaders  may  be  headed  in  at  times,  however,  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  growing  season,  in  July.     Such 
stopping  of  growing  leaders  will  be  practised  more 
often  on  young  trees  just  coming  into  bearing  than 
on  old  trees.      (Fig.  10).     Constant  heading  back  of 
some  sort,  however,  is  required  in  nearly  all  cases,  if 
the  tree  is  to  be  retained  in  its  dwarf  form.    The  mis- 
take  has   often   been   made   of   thinking   that   a   tree 
propagated  on  a  dwarf  root  would  take  care  of  itself. 

2.  Summer  pruning  is  essential.     In  most  Amer- 
ican   orchard    practise    one    annual    pruning    (some- 
times  one  pruning  every   five   years!)    is   considered 
sufficient,  and  systematic  summer  pruning  is  seldom 
or  never  given.     Now  summer  pruning  tends  much 

33 


FIG.     10 — BUSH    APPLE,    THREE    YEARS    OLD 
Showing  strong  leaders  formed  during  the  summer 


PRUNING     DWARF     FRUIT     TREES  35 

more  to  repress  the  growth  of  a  tree  than  winter 
pruning  does.  In  fact,  heavy  winter  pruning  leads 
rather  to  increased  vegetative  vigor.  Aside  from  any 
special  system  of  pruning,  therefore,  this  rule  is  to 
be  remembered,  that  summer  pruning  is  desirable,  on 
general  principles,  for  dwarf  fruit  trees. 

3.  Side   shoots   usually   need   pinching   during   the 
growing  season.    Leaders  are  more  frequently  allowed 
to  grow   unchecked   throughout  the   season,    or    are 
stopped  only  late  in  their  period  of  development.     In 
the  pomaceous  fruits,  which  form  distinct  fruit  spurs, 
the  checking  of  these   side  shoots  helps  toward  the 
production  of  fruit  buds.     As  long  as  every  bud  is 
allowed  to  push  out  into  a  strong  shoot  no  fruit  spurs 
can  become  established.     Thus  the  summer  pinching 
of  the  side  shoots  on  apples  and  pears  has  the  pur- 
pose of  encouraging  the  formation  of  fruit  spurs.  On 
peach  and  plum  trees  equally  distinct  fruit  spurs  do 
not  form;  but  if  the  side  shoots  are  allowed  to  push 
forth  unrestricted  they  are  apt  to  choke  one  another. 
There  will  be  too  many  of  them,  they  will  not  get  light 
enough,  their  growth  will  be  weak  and  sappy,  and  they 
will  not  form  fruit  buds.    Good  fruit  buds  on  a  peach 
tree,  for  example,  form  on  strong,  clean,  healthy  shoots 
of  this  year's  growth  for  next  year's  crop  of  fruit.     It 
is  seen,  therefore,  that  in  nearly  all  sorts  of  dwarf  fruit 
trees  the  summer  pruning  is  especially  directed  to  the 
suppression  or  regulation  of  the  growth  of  side  shoots. 

This  part  of  the  treatment  becomes  of  prime  im- 
portance in  dealing  with  cordons  and  espaliers. 

4.  The   control   of  the   fruit  spurs   or  of  the   side 
shoots  here  contemplated  requires  that  the  trees  be 


36  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

gone  ovei  more  than  once  during  the  growing  season. 
In  fact,  four  successive  examinations  of  the  tree  are 
usually  required.  Old  trees  can  sometimes  be  man- 
aged with  two  or  three,  but  young  ones,  on  the  other 
hand,  will  sometimes  require  six  or  more.  Of  course, 
there  are  usually  only  a  few  shoots  that  need  attention 
at  each  succeeding  visit,  and  the  work  can  be  very 
rapidly  performed.  The  first  pruning,  or  pinching, 
falls  about  three  weeks  after  the  trees  have  started 
into  growth.  The  next  one  comes  ten  days  later,  the 
next  one  ten  days  later  again,  and  the  fourth  pruning 
two  weeks  after  the  third.  From  this  time  onward  the 
intervals  lengthen.  These  specifications,  of  course, 
are  only  approximate  and  suggestive.  Some  judg- 
ment is  required  to  select  just  the  proper  moment  for 
pinching  back  a  shoot  and  even  more  to  select  the 
time  for  a  general  summer  priming.  Those  trees 
which  enjoy  the  sympathetic  presence  of  the  gardener 
every  day  are  sure  to  fare  best.  The  bulk  of  this 
pruning  can  be  done  with  the  thumb  nail  and  fore- 
finger, but  I  find  a  light  pair  of  pruning  scissors 
pleasanter  to  work  with. 

5.  Root  pruning  is  sometimes  advisable.  Since  the 
whole  program  is  arranged  to  check  the  growth  of 
the  dwarf  tree,  root  pruning  would  naturally  fit  well 
with  the  other  practises  recommended.  Root  pruning 
checks  the  growth  of  a  tree  about  as  positively  as 
any  treatment  that  can  be  devised.  When  dwarf  pear 
or  apple  trees  seem  to  be  making  too  much  wood 
growth  and  not  enough  fruit,  they  can  be  taken  up, 
as  for  transplanting,  during  the  dormant  season  and 
set  right  back  into  place.  This  digging  up  and  re- 


f  2 
o 


38  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

planting  is  always  accompanied  by  some  cutting  of 
roots.  The  whole  root  system  is  disturbed  and  has  to 
re-establish  itself  before  the  top  vegetates  very  strongly 
once  more.  Such  root  pruning  ought  to  be  done  late 
in  the  fall.  It  is  a  special  practice,  suited  to  re- 
fractory cases,  and  the  gardener  is  not  recommended 
to  indulge  in  it  too  freely. 

6.  A  certain  equilibrium  between  vegetative  growth 
and  fruit  bearing  should  be  established  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment,  and  should  be  maintained  thereafter. 
Of  course,   some   such   equilibrium   is   sought   in  the 
management   of   a   standard   tree;   but   it   is   secured 
earlier  in  the  life  of  the  dwarf  tree  and  should  be 
much   more   accurately   maintained.      The   tree   must 
make  a  certain  amount  of  growth  each  year,  but  this 
must  be  only  enough  to  keep  it  in  good  health,  and 
to  furnish  foliage  enough  to  mature  the  fruit.    Beyond 
this    wood   growth   the   tree    should   bear    a    certain 
amount  of  fruit  every  year,  for  annual  bearing  is  not 
only  an  ideal  but  a  rule  in  the  management  of  dwarf 
trees.      This    equilibrium    once    established    must    be 
maintained  not  by  haphazard  pruning,  but  by  some 
suitable  system.    If  there  is  the  proper  balance  between 
summer  pruning  and  winter  pruning,  combined  with 
proper   control   of   cultivation   and   fertilization,   then 
the  balance  between  vegetation  and   fruitage  can  be 
kept  up.     It  is  a  delicate  business,  like  courting  two 
girls  at  once,  but  it  can  be  carried  out  successfully. 

7.  The  training  of  trees   into  mathematical   forms 
is  largely  a  mechanical  process.     For  the  most  part 
the  trees  are  shaped  while  they  are  growing.     The 
young   shoots   are   twisted   and   bent   to   the   desired 


§  I 
§  o- 

Tl 


4O  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

positions,  and  are  tied  into  place  until  the  stems  be- 
come hardened.  There  are  many  clever  little  tricks 
for  expediting  this  sort  of  work  and  for  making  the 
results  more  sure,  but  a  rehearsal  of  them  here  would 
be  tedious.  The  most  important  rule  to  remember  is 
that  constant  attention  must  be  given  the  shoots  while 
they  are  growing.  Mistakes  are  corrected  with  diffi- 
culty after  an  undesirable  form  has  been  allowed  to 
harden. 


SPECIAL  FORMS  FOR  TRAINED  TREES 

WE  have  already  explained  the  connection  between 
dwarf  trees  and  the  practise  of  training  them  in 
special  forms.  It  is  true  that  this  practise  looks  child- 
ish to  American  eyes.  It  seems  to  be  only  a  kind  of 
play,  and  a  rather  juvenile  sport  at  that.  Never- 
theless we  should  understand  that  in  some  parts  of 
the  world  it  is  a  real  and  profitable  commercial  under- 
taking. We  should  consider  also  that  in  other  places, 
where  fruit  of  very  high  quality  is  better  appreciated, 
perhaps,  than  it  is  in  America,  the  extra  trouble  is 
thought  to  be  worth  while  for  the  superior  quality 
which  it  g;ves  the  fruit.  As  this  matter  is  coming  to 
be  of  more  importance  in  America  also,  and  as  the 
interest  in  amateur  fruit  growing  is  enormously  in- 
creasing, we  may  fairly  begin  to  talk  about  these 
methods. 

The  formation  of  trees  into  bushes  and  pyramids, 
by  means  of  systematic  pruning  according  to  a  def- 
inite plan,  as  explained  in  the  succeeding  chapters, 
while  apparently  simpler  and  more  reasonable  to  our 
American  eyes,  it  is  still  a  method  of  training  the  tree. 
The  fruiting  branches  are  placed  at  definite  points 
and  the  fruit  spurs  are  encouraged  to  grow  in  regular 
succession.  It  is  not  a  very  great  step  from  this  to 
a  distribution  of  the  branches  into  a  more  precise  form. 


42  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

The  different  forms  which  are  used  most  commonly 
are  named  and  classified  in  the  following  outline: 

^. — Forms  of  three  dimensions: 

a.  Vase  or  bush 

b.  Pyramid 

c.  Winged  pyramid,  etc. 
B. — Forms  of  two  dimensions: 

a.  Various  espaliers 

b.  Palmette-Verrier 

c.  Fans  or  Fan-espaliers 

d.  U-form  and  double  U-form 
C. — Trained  to  a  single  stem: 

a.  Upright  cordon 

b.  Oblique  cordon 

c.  Horizontal  cordon 

(with  one  arm) 
(with  two  arms) 

d.  Serpentine  cordon,  etc. 

Among  the  forms  of  three  dimensions  none  is  of 
much  practical  importance  besides  the  pyramid  and 
bush  or  vase  form.  These  are  sufficiently  explained 
in  the  chapters  on  pears  and  apples.  Here  we  need 
only  to  define  them.  The  pyramid  tree  is  one  which 
has  a  straight  central  stem  with  branches  radiating 
therefrom.  It  is  especially  adapted  to  upright  grow- 
ing varieties  of  pears.  The  bush  or  vase  form  has 
several  main  arms  or  branches,  all  standing  out  from 
approximately  the  same  point  and  growing  upward 
/  .at  a  more  or  less  acute  angle,  thus  forming  roughly 
a  vase.  The  secondary  branches  put  out  from  these, 
bearing  fruiting  wood,  as  the  gardener  may  order. 

The  flying  pyramid  or  winged  pyramid,  described 
in  all  European  books,  is  considerably  different  from 


SPECIAL     FORMS      FOR     TRAINED     TREES 


43 


the  ordinary  pyramid  and  is  more  precise  in  its  de- 
sign. Usually  six  arms  are  brought  out  at  the  base 
of  the  tree.  These  are  grown  in  a  direction  approxi- 
mately horizontal  until  they  reach  a  convenient  length, 
— say  two  to  three  feet.  They  are  then  suddenly  bent 


FIG.    15 — PEARS    IN    DOUBLE    U-FORM 
From  I^oebner's  "  Zwergobstbaume" 

upward  and  inward  and  are  conducted  along  wires 
set  for  this  purpose  until  they  meet  in  a  common  point 
with  the  main  stem  of  the  tree  some  four  to  eight  feet 
above  where  the  branches  put  out.  There  is  thus 
formed  a  precise  mathematical  pyramid,  Along  these 


44  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

main  arms  fruiting  spurs  are  allowed  to  grow,  but 
no  branches  are  expected  to  develop. 

Sometimes  the  flying  pyramid  is  made  more  elab- 
orate by  bending  the  arms  into  a  spiral  form.  Other 
more  or  less  complex  modifications  are  practised  to 
some  extent.  All  of  them  are  to  be  regarded  merely 
as  curiosities  and  as  of  no  practical  value. 

The  various  forms  of  espaliers  and  fan-shaped  trees 
have  their  special  and  legitimate  uses.  It  may  be  said 
here  that  the  Palmette-Verrier  is  regarded  generally 
as  being  the  most  successful  for  the  largest  number  of 
varieties  of  fruits.  It  is  a  safe  rule  also  that  the 
simpler  forms  are  generally  the  better.  With  rare 
exceptions  a  tree  confined  to  a  moderately  small  space 
is  more  satisfactory  than  one  trained  over  a  large  space. 

Great  care  must  be  exercised  in  forming  these  trees. 
If  the  geometrical  style  of  training  is  undertaken  at 
all,  it  should  be  carried  out  with  considerable  pre- 
cision. If  one  arm  happens  to  be  placed  a  little  higher, 
or  at  a  little  more  moderate  angle,  or  otherwise  more 
favorably  than  the  corresponding  arm,  it  will  very 
soon  divert  to  its  own  use  the  major  portion  of  food 
supplied  by  the  top.  It  will  outgrow  its  mate  and 
the  form  which  the  gardener  designed  will  eventually 
be  lost.  It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  this  condition 
makes  the  same  care  and  precision  necessary  in  all 
forms  of  training. 

The  U-form  classifies  somewhere  between  the  cor- 
don and  the  espalier.  It  consists  of  two  upright 
branches  joined  to  a  single  trunk  below  by  an  arc 
of  a  circle.  The  fruit  is  all  borne  on  the  two  parallel 


s  8 

I 


5 


«  s 


46  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

stems  which  are  treated  essentially  the  same  as  up- 
right cordons.  (Fig.  17.) 

The  double  U-form  is  made  by  growing  two  U's 
from  the  same  tree.  The  stem  is  first  divided  near 
the  ground  into  two  branches  and  each  of  these  is 
immediately  divided  into  two  more.  The  tree  thus 
provides  four  parallel  and  equally  spaced  upright  and 
fruiting  stems  equal  to  four  upright  cordons,  except 
that  they  are  all  supported  from  a  single  trunk.  The 
U-  and  double  U-forms  are  employed  mostly  for 
plums,  apricots,  peaches  and  nectarines. 

One  occasionally  sees  much  more  elaborate  schemes 
of  training  than  any  here  mentioned.  There  are  com- 
plex geometrical  designs,  even  pictorial  figures — birds, 
dogs,  and  beer-steins — and  sometimes  the  initials  of 
the  gardener,  or  the  name  of  his  kingly  and  imperial 
majesty.  In  every  case  the  method  of  producing  these 
forms  is  practically  the  same.  A  frame  is  built  of 
wood  or  wire  in  the  form  which  it  is  desired  to  give 
the  tree.  Branches  are  developed  at  suitable  points 
on  the  tree  and  these  are  tied  out  while  they  are  grow- 
ing to  the  wooden  or  metal  form.  It  does  not  require 
any  special  care  or  ingenuity  to  produce  the  most 
elaborate  designs  in  this  method.  It  is  essentially  a 
job  of  carpentry. 

We  come  now  to  the  cordons.  If  we  take  the 
simplest  form,  namely  the  upright  cordon,  we  have 
what  we  may  call  a  tree  of  one  dimension  only.  The 
upright  cordon  has  nothing  but  height,  eschewing  both 
breadth  and  thickness.  A  cordon  is  simply  a  tree 
trained  to  a  single  stem  and  this  stem  may  be  placed 
in  any  position.  The  position  or  direction  of  the  stem 


FIG.    17 — APRICOTS   IN    U-FORM 


48 


DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 


classifies  the  cordon.  There  are,  therefore,  besides 
the  upright  cordon,  others  which  are  oblique,  that  is, 
which  make  an  angle  with  the  horizontal,  those  which 
are  horizontal,  and  those  which  are  bent  into  various 


FIG.     l8 — PEAR    IN    ESPALIER 
This  tree  is  carrying  over  200  fruits 

forms.  The  serpent  form  is  one  of  the  simplest  of 
these.  This  form  of  cordon  is  simply  bent  back  and 
forth  against  a  trellis  forming  a  series  of  S's  one  above 
another.  The  horizontal  cordons  are  of  two  varieties, 
namely  one-arm  and  two-arm  forms.  It  is  altogether 
a  matter  of  convenience  which  one  of  these  forms  is 
chosen. 


1 


50  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  the  slower 
growing  trees,  pears  and  apples,  are  the  better  suited 
to  the  more  elaborate  forms  of  training.  The  more 
free  and  rapid  growing  species,  such  as  peaches,  nec- 
tarines, cherries,  and  Japanese  plums,  are  better  man- 
aged in  somewhat  simpler  forms,  preferably  the  fan. 
Such  trees  do  well,  however,  in  the  U-form  or  double 
U-form. 


VI 
GENERAL  MANAGEMENT 

THE  general  management  of  dwarf  trees  is  naturally 
very  much  like  the  management  of  ordinary  standard 
trees.  As  dwarf  trees  are  grown  more  often  in 
gardens  rather  than  in  orchards  they  will  receive 
garden  treatment.  Heavy  tools  and  extensive  methods 
of  culture  will  hardly  find  application. 

Good  soil  culture  may  be  regarded  as  essential. 
Whatever  some  American  fruit  growers  may  be  say- 
ing about  the  propriety  of  growing  apple  orchards  in 
sod,  no  one  has  yet  undertaken  to  adapt  the  sod 
system  into  the  kitchen  garden.  The  close  planting 
which  is  customary  with  dwarf  trees  makes  culture 
comparatively  difficult,  yet  not  unreasonably  so. 
Apple  and  pear  trees  planted  six  feet  apart  each  way 
can  be  worked  for  several  years  with  a  single  horse 
and  cultivator.  In  fact  if  the  trees  are  kept  carefully 
headed  in,  the  time  need  never  come  when  the  culti- 
vator will  have  to  be  abandoned.  When  cordons  or 
espaliers  are  planted  in  a  garden  large  enough  to 
warrant  horse  cultivation  under  ordinary  circumstances 
then  the  rows  of  trained  trees  should  be  set  six  feet 
apart,  which  will  be  enough  to  permit  the  continued 
use  of  the  horse  and  cultivator  between  the  rows. 

However,  the  horse  cultivator  is  certain  to  be  def- 
initely crowded  out  of  some  dwarf  fruit  gardens. 
Many  of  the  men  who  have  greatest  reason  for  grow- 

51 


^ 


GENERAL     MANAGEMENT  53 

ing  dwarf  fruit  trees  are  those  whose  backyard  gardens 
were  never  large  enough  to  justify  the  presence  of  a 


ooooooo 
ooooooo 

ooooooooooo 


oooooooooooooooooooooocbooo 

ooooooo 


FIG.    21 — DESIGN    FOR   A   BACK    YARD  FRUIT   GARDEN   5<D   FT.    SQUARE 

North  fence  (top  of  map),  peach  espalier  (4);  Row  i,  bush  apple  (7);  Row 
2,  pyramid  pear  (7);  Row  3,  currants  and  gooseberries  (n);  Row  4  and  5, 
horizontal  cordon  apples,  with  grass  walk  between  ;  Row  6,  raspberry 
bushes  (7) ;  Row  7,  strawberries  ;  Row  8,  plums  in  bush  form  (7) ;  Row  9, 
apples  in  horizontal  cordons  (4);  East  fence,  apples  as  upright  cordons  (31); 
West  fence,  pears  in  espalier. 

horse  or  horse  tools.  In  such  cases  the  spading  fork 
and  the  hand  cultivator  are  the  ready  and  proper 
substitutes.  Our  extensive  methods  of  farming  in 


54  DWARF    FRUIT    TREES 

America  have  bred  a  strong  prejudice  against  all  sorts 
of  hand  labor  like  this,  but  experience  will  show  that 
under  some  conditions  it  is  quite  worth  while.  A. 
very  common  mistake  in  all  kinds  of  agriculture  is 
to  allow  prejudice  to  rule  experience. 

Garden  culture  means  not  only  good  tillage  of  the 
soil,  but  good  treatment  in  other  respects.  It  means 
good  feeding  and  good  spraying.  As  for  spraying 
we  need  make  only  two  observations.  First,  the 
treatment  to  be  given  is  almost  precisely  the  same 
as  that  which  is  given  to  standard  trees  of  the  same 
species;  second,  the  work  is  much  more  easily  per- 
formed because  the  trees  are  smaller.  If  one  happens 
to  have  a  considerable  block  of  dwarf  trees  closely 
planted.  There  may  be  difficulty,  it  is  true,  in  driving 
in  with  a  spray  pump.  This  difficulty  is  overcome  by 
having  long  runs  of  hose  on  the  spray  pump,  so  that 
the  cart  may  stand  on  the  borders  of  the  garden  while 
the  operator  carries  the  nozzle  in  among  the  trees. 
In  case  of  large  plantings  of  dwarf  trees  alley-ways 
should  be  left  every  one  hundred  feet,  or  better,  every 
eighty  feet,  between  the  blocks.  These  alleys  will 
be  useful  for  other  purposes  besides  spraying. 

In  the  management  of  a  small  garden  the  gardener 
is  expected  to  be  liberal  in  his  allowance  of  fertili- 
zers. While  it  is  true  that  dwarf  fruit  trees  should 
be  liberally  fed  there  is  a  possibility  of  overdoing 
it.  It  has  already  been  explained  that  the  dwarfing 
of  the  tree  depends  in  a  certain  way  on  its  well-regu- 
lated starvation.  If  the  tree  top  could  get  all  the 
food  which  its  nature  calls  for  it  would  not  be  dwarfed. 
The  rule  in  feeding  dwarf  fruit  trees  therefore  should 


FIG.    22 — DWARF    FRUIT    GARDEN    III    BY    144    FEET 
From  I^ucas'  Handbuch  des  Obstbaues 


56  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

be  to  give  enough  fertilizer  to  keep  them  in  perfect 
health  and  in  good  growing  condition,  but  not  enough 
to  force  unnecessary  growth.  Fertilizer  rich  in  nitro- 
gen should  be  especially  avoided,  and,  as  the  object  in 
view  is  to  secure  an  early  maturity  of  the  tree  and  to 
produce  fruit  always  in  preference  to  wood,  a  larger 
proportion  of  potash  would  naturally  be  substituted 
for  the  diminished  proportion  of  nitrogen.  Of  course 
the  amounts  and  proportions  of  the  different  elements 
(nitrogen,  potash  and  phosphoric  acid)  to  be  applied 
will  vary  greatly  with  different  conditions, — with. the 
nature  of  the  soil,  the  age  of  the  trees,  etc.  As  a  sort 
of  standard  we  may  say  that  under  normal  conditions 
of  good  soil  with  dwarf  apple  and  pear  trees  in  bearing 
there  should  be  given  annually  for  each  acre : 

400  pounds  ground  bone 
400  pounds  muriate  of  potash 
100  pounds   Peruvian  guano 

Peaches  and  plums  require  more  nitrogen  during 
early  growth,  and  more  potash  when  in  full  bearing. 
For  a  new  plantation  of  these  trees  the  following 
amounts  should  be  given  annually  for  each  acre : 

300  pounds  ground  bone 
400  pounds  muriate  of  potash 
150  pounds  nitrate  of  soda 

For  peach  and  plum  trees  in  bearing,  the  following 
formula  may  be  suggested : 

400  pounds  ground  bone 
500  pounds  muriate  of  potash 
100  pounds  Peruvian  guano 

Inasmuch  as  many  owners  of  dwarf  fruit  trees  will 


GENERAL     MANAGEMENT  57 

have  so  much  less  than  an  acre  for  treatment  it  will 
be  best  to  repeat  these  formulas,  reducing  them  to  a 
smaller  unit.  Making  this  reduction  somewhat  freely, 
in  order  to  avoid  long  and  useless  decimals,  we  may 
compute  the  quantity  needed  annually  for  each  one 
hundred  square  feet  of  land  as  follows: 

FOR  APPLES  AND  PEARS  IN  BEARING 

I  pound  ground  bone 
I  pound  muriate  of  potash 
34  pound  Peruvian  guano 

FOR   PEACHES   AND   PLUMS    NEWLY    PLANTED 

y±  pound  ground  bone 

i  pound  muriate  of  potash 
Y%  pound  nitrate  of  soda 

FOR    PEACHES    AND    PLUMS    IN    BEARING 

l/4  pound  Peruvian  guano 
1^4  pound  muriate  of  potash 
i  pound  ground  bone 

Cherries  should  be  treated  like  plums ;  gooseberries, 
currants,  and  most  other  fruits,  like  apples. 

In  the  home  of  dwarf  tree  culture,  that  is,  in  Europe, 
trained  trees  are  extensively  grown  upon  walls.  The 
gardeners  utilize  for  this  purpose  not  only  the  walls 
of  stables  and  outbuildings,  and  of  the  enclosed  gar- 
dens, but  long  ranges  of  brick  are  built  for  the  special 
and  exclusive  purpose  of  accommodating  fruit  trees. 
In  southern  Germany,  in  Switzerland,  in  Belgium,  in 
France,  and  especially  in  the  neighborhood  of  Paris, 
there  are  hundreds  of  miles  of  these  walls.  The  walls 
may  run  north  and  south  or  east  and  west.  Both 
sides  of  the  walls  are  used,  even  when  one  side  faces 
the  north.  Currants  and  gooseberries  are  expected  to 


58  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

thrive  on  north  walls.  West  walls  are  considered  espe- 
cially favorable  for  pears  and  plums.  The  walls  are 
nearly  always  built  of  brick.  They  should  have  a 
height  of  ten  to  fourteen  feet.  Each  wall  usually  has 
a  coping  at  the  top  with  a  projection  of  ten  to  eighteen 
inches,  which  sheds  the  rain,  protecting  both  the  wall 
and  the  fruit  trees.  Where  extreme  pains  are  spent 
on  the  culture  of  fancy  table  fruits  there  are  curtains 
hung  from  rods  along  the  outer  edge  of  these  copings, 
and  the  curtains  are  drawn  to  protect  ripening  fruit 
from  too  hot  sunshine,  or  to  protect  the  blossoms  in 
the  spring  season  from  late  frosts. 

Brick  walls,  with  all  their  appurtenances,  are  less 
important  in  America  than  in  Europe  and  the  advan- 
tages to  be  expected  from  this  particular  method  of 
culture  are  decidedly  less.  Walls  would  more  proba- 
bly be  useful  for  peaches  and  nectarines  in  northern 
latitudes  than  for  any  other  fruits. 

Cordons  and  espaliers  require  some  sort  of  sup- 
port, however,  and  where  walls  are  not  used  trellises 
are  necessary.  These  may  be  of  wood  or  wire.  There 
is  a  belief  current  that  the  wooden  trellises  are  better 
because  they  reflect  less  heat,  but  wire  is  so  much 
cheaper  and  more  durable  that  it  will  usually  be  chosen. 

Five  or  six  wires  are  needed  to  make  a  good  trellis 
for  upright  cordons.  These  should  be  placed  twelve 
to  fourteen  inches  apart,  with  the  lowest  wire  thirty 
inches  from  the  ground.  All  wires  should  be  tight, 
and  to  this  end  stout,  well-set  posts  are  necessary. 
The  wires  should  be  loosened  in  the  autumn,  before 
freezing  weather  begins,  and  should  be  tightened  again 
in  the  spring. 


FIG.   23 — FRUIT   GARDENING  AND  LANDSCAPE  GARDENING  COMBINED 

From  Ideas'  Handbuch  des  Obstbaues 

The  entire  planting,  exclusive  of  the  borders,  is  made  up  of  fruit  tree* 
and  bushes.    Dimensions,  752  x  1,362  feet. 


6O  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

For  espaliers  the  woven  wire  fences  are  better.  In 
fact,  the  woven  wire  fencing  is  excellent  for  all  sorts 
of  fruit  trellises.  Poultry  netting  makes  a  cheap  and 
convenient  trellis,  but  it  is  neither  so  strong  nor  so 
durable  as  the  better  grades  of  woven  wire  fencing. 
On  the  whole  it  is  very  poor  economy  to  buy  a  cheap 
trellis  or  to  put  it  up  on  poor  posts. 

These  trellises  will  need  to  be  comparatively  high. 
Nothing  less  than  eight  feet  will  be  satisfactory,  and 
for  upright  cordons  a  trellis  ten  to  fifteen  feet  high 
will  be  much  better.  Of  course,  this  entire  height  is 
not  needed  the  first  year,  but  upright  cordon  apples 
will  cover  a.  twelve  foot  trellis  in  five  years.  Peaches 
or  Japanese  plums  will  cover  the  same  trellis  in  three 
years. 

In  the  selection  of  varieties  for  growing  in  a  garden 
of  dwarf  fruit  trees  the  horticulturist  will  naturally 
be  guided  by  principles  altogether  different  from 
those  which  control  him  in  the  selection  of  varieties 
for  a  commercial  orchard.  He  must,  of  course,  con- 
sider which  varieties  are  best  adapted  to  the  special 
stocks  on  which  they  have  to  be  propagated.  He  must 
also  bear  in  rnind  that  certain  varieties  are  better 
adapted  than  others  for  the  special  forms  in  which 
he  may  wish  to  train  his  dwarf  trees.  Beyond  all 
this  lies  the  great  consideration  that  in  the  very  large 
majority  of  cases  dwarf  fruit  trees  are  grown  to  secure 
fancy  fruit,  not  to  produce  a  large  quantity  for  a 
general  market.  All  varieties  of  inferior  quality  would 
therefore  be  eliminated  from  consideration  at  the  be- 
ginning, no  matter  how  productive  they  might  be, 
nor  how  famous  for  other  things. 


-JOH      fe ^ ~  "-        "•-    _  "~^    '    _      _'.__, 


25  50  100  15 

FIG.    24 — A    FRUIT    GARDEN    CONTAINING    MANY    DWARF    TREES 
A.  is  the  entrance  ;  B,  well  or  cistern  ;  C,  space  to  turn  a  horse  and  cart. 
From  P.  Carry's  "Fruit  Garden" 


62  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

Varieties  of  specially  good  flavor  would  be  given 
special  thought,  even  though  they  might  lack  in  hardi- 
ness or  productivity.  The  special  favorites  of  the 
man  who  owns  the  garden  should  be  chosen,  no 
matter  whether  they  are  popular  or  not.  Then  for 
similar  reasons  a  comparatively  long  list  of  varieties 
will  be  chosen  instead  of  the  very  short  list  always 
held  to  by  the  commercial  grower.  From  first  to  last 
one  should  remember  that  the  growing  of  dwarf  fruit 
trees  is  essentially  the  enterprise  of  an  amateur,  not 
of  a  man  who  grows  fruit  for  money. 


VII 

DWARF  APPLES 

DWARF  apples  are  the  most  interesting  and  valuable 
of  dwarf  fruits.  We  have  become  so  thoroughly  ac- 
customed to  the  standard  apple  tree  in  this  country, 
however,  and  it  so  fully  meets  all  the  apparent  re- 
quirements, that  there  seems  to  be  no  call  for  dwarf 
apples.  Nevertheless  dwarf  trees  have  some  real  ad- 
vantages under  certain  circumstances.  Some  of  these 
have  already  been  pointed  out  in  the  general  discus- 
sion in  previous  chapters,  and  some  of  them  will  bear 
reiteration  here.  Where  so  much  interest  is  taken 
in  apple  culture  as  in  America,  the  advantage  which 
dwarf  trees  offer  for  the  rapid  testing  of  new  varieties 
cannot  be  overlooked.  Still  more  important  is  the 
value  of  the  dwarf  trees  in  producing  extra  fancy 
specimens.  Thus  in  growing  very  fine  apples  for  ex- 
hibition or  for  a  particularly  fastidious  market,  one 
would  naturally  choose  the  dwarf  trees. 

Inasmuch  as  dwarf  trees  are  recommended  chiefly 
to  the  amateur  and  are  grown  generally  less  for  cash 
profit  than  for  other  considerations,  the  great  and  ob- 
vious advantages  of  standard  trees  quickly  disappear. 
For  men  who  like  to  play  at  fruit  growing,  nothing 
can  equal  a  selection  of  apple  trees  on  Paradise  stocks. 
They  are  the  most  engaging  of  all  dwarf  trees,  in  fact 
of  all  fruit  trees  whatsoever. 

The  general  matter  of  selecting  stocks   has  been 


64  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

refe.  red  to  under  the  head  of  propagation,  but  the 
statement  should  be  repeated  here  that  the  French 
Paradise  stock  is  preferable  for  very  dwarf  garden 
trees,  and  is  almost  necessary  for  cordons  and  espaliers, 
while  the  Doucin  (sometimes  called  the  English  or 
broad-leaved  Paradise)  may  be  chosen  where  only 
a  moderate  amount  of  dwarfing  is  desired.  Some  of 
the  most  expert  apple  growers  of  North  America  are 
beginning  to  think  that  the  Doucin  may  be  required 
for  the  commercial  orchards  in  the  future,  when  spray- 
ing for  the  San  Jose  scale  becomes  an  established 
routine  and  smaller  trees  are  an  accepted  necessity. 

Dwarf  apple  trees  may  be  cultivated  in  nearly  all 
the  artificial  forms  ever  given  to  fruit  trees.  Un- 
doubtedly the  simplest  is  the  bush  or  vase  form.  This 
requires  less  care  and  attention  and  probably  gives 
as  much  fruit  to  the  same  area  as  any  other.  The 
pyramid  form  is  somewhat  difficult  to  produce.  It 
can  be  secured  successfully  only  with  the  varieties 
which  have  a  tendency  to  grow  strong,  straight 
branches,  as  for  instance  Sutton,  Gravenstein  and 
Northern  Spy.  On  the  whole  the  pyramid  is  not  to 
be  recommended  for  dwarf  apples. 

Apples  succeed  very  well  as  upright  cordons  and 
in  all  the  simpler  modifications  of  this  form.  As  these 
trees  can  be  planted  very  close  together — as  close  as 
fifteen  inches  certainly — thus  occupying  very  little 
room,  a  large  number  of  them  can  be  planted  in  very 
limited  areas  of  the  city  lot  or  backyard.  They  are 
especially  adapted  to  stand  on  the  property  line  where 
they  seem  to  use  no  space  whatever,  and  where  in 
fact  they  do  occupy  space  which  otherwise  would  be 


DWARF     APPLES  65 

lost.  The  upright  cordon  can  be  bent  into  the  form  of 
an  arch  in  order  to  make  delightful  arbors  along  the 
walks.  The  illustration,  Fig.  2,  shows  a  good  ex- 
ample of  this  sort. 

Nearly   all   varieties   of   apples — indeed   all   as    far 
as  I  know — succeed  in  this  form.     The  trees  are  not 


FIG.  25 — DWARF  APPLES  ON  PROF.  L.    H.  BAILEY'S  FARM,  NEW  YORK 

very  long-lived,  however.  That  is  they  cannot  be 
maintained  in  good  presentable  form  and  prolific  bear- 
ing indefinitely,  because  it  is  difficult  to  reproduce 
the  fruit  spurs  on  the  lower  part  of  the  stem.  Never- 
theless the  trees  are  inexpensive  and  can  be  cheaply 
replaced.  As  they  come  into  bearing  the  first  or 
second  year  after  planting,  this  task  of  replacing  worn- 


66  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

out  trees  is  a  small  one.  Very  fine  specimens  of  fruit 
can  be  produced  on  these  upright  cordons.  Indeed  this 
form  is  superior  to  the  bush  form  in  this  respect. 

The  apple  is  the  best  of  all  trees  for  horizontal  cor- 
dons. In  this  form  it  becomes  the  most  entertaining 
plaything  in  the  garden,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most 
rewarding  trees  in  its  product  of  fruit.  Either  the 
single  arm  or  the  double  arm  cordon  can  be  used  with 
success.  These  horizontal  cordons  are  naturally  used 
along  the  borders  of  walks,  flower  beds  or  plots  de- 
voted to  vegetables.  They  may  sometimes  be  used 
along  foundations  of  buildings,  where  it  is  not  desired 
to  grow  upright  cordons  or  espaliers  against  the  walls. 
The  fruit  produced  by  horizontal  cordons  is  probably 
superior  in  size,  color  and  finish  to  that  produced  on 
any  other  form  of  tree.  In  climates  where  the  sum- 
mer's heat  and  sunshine  are  apt  to  be  meager,  this 
advantage  of  the  horizontal  cordon  will  be  compara- 
tively greater.  Conversely  it  will  be  less  in  places 
where  sunshine  and  heat  are  very  abundant  during 
the  summer.  It  is  probably  true  that  on  the  plains  of 
Arizona  and  Texas  the  horizontal  cordon  will  not  be 
a  brilliant  success. 

Dwarf  apples  need  practically  the  same  care  and 
cultivation,  aside  from  pruning,  as  standard  apples. 
The  soil  should  be  cultivated  during  the  early  part 
of  the  summer  and  allowed  to  rest  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  year.  Cover  crops  may  be  sown  during 
June  or  July,  according  to  the  .custom  practised  in  the 
usual  orchard  management;  but  the  advantages  of 
a  cover  crop  in  a  small  garden  are  less  material  than 
in  a  large  commercial  orchard. 


FIG.    26 — UPRIGHT    CORDON    APPLES 
18  inches  apart ;  in  author's  garden 


68  DWARF    FRUIT    TREES 

The  formation  of  the  tree  is  discussed  under  another 
head.  It  remains  to  be  said  only  that  careful  and 
intelligent  pruning  are  required  to  keep  any  dwarf 
apple  tree  to  its  work.  The  more  complicated  and 
the  more  restricted  the  form  of  the  tree,  the  more 
careful  and  continuous  must  be  this  pruning.  The 
general  system  may  be  outlined  in  comparatively  few 
words,  and  may  be  explained  in  its  simplest  form  as 
applied  to  the  treatment  of  a  horizontal  cordon.  Each 
horizontal  cordon,  perfectly  formed  and  full  grown, 
should  have  fruit  spurs  throughout  its  horizontal 
length,  which  may  be  from  three  to  fifteen  feet.  The 
upright  portion  of  the  trunk,  from  the  point  where 
the  graft  is  set  to  the  angle  made  by  the  bending  down 
of  the  stem,  should  be  kept  clean  and  bare.  Constant 
care  is  required  to  remove  the  sprouts  from  this  por- 
tion of  the  tree,  especially  such  as  come  up  from  the 
stock.  At  the  further  end  of  the  horizontal  portion 
there  should  be  one,  two,  or  three  strong  shoots 
allowed  to  push  forth  each  year.  These  may  be 
called  leaders.  They  represent  the  principal  wood 
growth  in  each  tree.  They  draw  up  the  sap  from  the 
roots,  their  leaves  elaborate  this  sap,  and  from  them 
the  digested  material  is  sent  back  for  the  support  of 
the  tree  and  the  ripening  of  the  fruit.  They  are  al- 
lowed to  take  an  upright  or  nearly  upright  position 
and  their  growth  is  encouraged.  On  all  other  por- 
tions of  the  tree  growth  is  sternly  restricted,  when 
not  altogether  repressed. 

There  is  a  constant  tendency  for  strong  shoots  to 
start  into  growth  all  along  the  horizontal  part  of  the 
stem  and  especially  near  the  bend.  If  any  of  these 


DWARF     APPLES  69 

shoots  are  allowed  to  make  headway,  the  form  of 
the  tree  is  spoiled.  Even  if  they  are  cut  out  after  a 
year's  growth,  thus  retaining  somewhat  the  form  of 
the  tree,  the  fruit  spurs  are  thereby  lost.  It  is  the  busi- 
ness of  the  fruit  grower,  therefore,  to  pinch  back  these 
shoots  which  start  along  the  horizontal  stem,  and 
this  pinching  is  done  at  a  comparatively  early  stage 
of  their  growth.  Usually  the  first  pinching  should  be 
given  when  the  stems  have  grown  long  enough  so 
as  to  have  seven  or  eight  leaves.  These  shoots  are  then 
cut  or  pinched  back  to  three  leaves.  If  the  tree  is  in 
good  vigorous  condition,  these  shoots  will  soon  start 
into  growth  once  more.  Again  they  have  to  be 
pinched.  This  time  the  pinching  comes  a  little  earlier, 
taking  the  shoot  when  it  reaches  only  about  five 
leaves  and  the  pinching  is  still  more  severe.  The 
shoots  may  start  into  growth  a  third  time  or  even  a 
fourth  time,  but  each  time  they  are  pinched  back 
sooner  and  more  severely  than  before.  In  most  cases 
two  or  three  pinchings  will  suffice.  These  constant 
repressions  of  growth  tend  to  secure  the  formation 
of  fruit  spurs  and  fruit  buds  along  the  horizontal 
trunk  of  the  tree. 

Some  slight  modifications  of  the  plan  here  out- 
lined will  develop  themselves  in  experience.  In  par- 
ticular it  will  be  found  that  different  varieties  require 
slightly  different  handling.  Some  form  fruit  spurs 
more  readily  than  others.  With  certain  varieties  it 
is  very  difficult  to  repress  the  rampant  habit  of  growth 
and  to  secure  a  proper  formation  of  fruit  buds.  These 
differences,  however,  are  of  minor  importance  as 
compared  with  the  general  management  of  the  tree. 


7O  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

The  system  just  outlined  has  in  view  the  summer 
pruning  of  the  horizontal  cordon  apple.  The  upright 
cordon  is  pruned  in  almost  exactly  the  same  manner. 
Various  forms  of  espaliers  are  handled  in  much  the 
same  way.  Strong  shoots  or  leaders  are  allowed  to 
grow  at  the  ends  of  the  main  branches  to  keep  up  a 
proper  circulation  and  elaboration  of  sap,  while  the 
growth  of  fruit  spurs  is  encouraged  along  the  sides 
of  the  stems  by  frequent  and  regular  pruning. 

In  a  somewhat  less  precise  manner  the  same  system 
of  pruning  can  be  applied  to  bush  and  pyramid  forms. 
Each  bush,  for  instance,  is  made  up  of  a  certain 
number  of  fruiting  branches.  The  fruit  is  borne  on 
spurs  on  the  sides  of  these  branches,  while  the  woody 
growth  is  made  by  the  leaders  appearing  at  the  ends 
of  these  branches.  These  leaders  are  annually  cut 
back  and  the  constant  formation  of  fruit  spurs  is 
encouraged  by  pinching  whatever  shoots  are  on  the 
sides  of  the  main  stems. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  whole  business  of  pruning 
falls  into  two  general  categories,  viz.,  winter  pruning 
and  summer  pruning.  The  winter  or  spring  pruning 
is  given  any  time  after  the  stress  of  winter  is  over 
and  before  the  sap  starts  running  in  the  spring.  This 
is  the  time  when  the  ordinary  fruit  trees  are  customa- 
rily pruned.  The  work  at  this  season  consists  chiefly 
in  cutting  back  leaders.  These  are  pruned  off  short, 
that  is  the  whole  stem  is  taken  off  down  to  within 
two  or  three  buds  of  where  it  started  growth  the 
previous  year.  In  some  cases  it  is  worth  while  to 
cut  even  further  back,  going  into  wood  two  or  three 
years  old.  At  this  spring  pruning  the  defective  or 


DWARF     APPLES  71 

diseased  branches  are  of  course  removed  wherever 
they  are  found.  Cases  requiring  such  treatment  al- 
ways occur  even  on  the  best  trained  cordons  and 
espaliers.  Whenever  it  becomes  necessary  an  entire 
branch,  sometimes  composing  half  the  tree,  is  taken 


r*3R> 


FIG.    27 — HORIZONTAL    CORDON    APPLE    TREES 

out.     Usually  such  branches  can  be  replaced  without 
great  loss  of  time. 

After  this  winter  or  spring  pruning  comes  the 
summer  pruning  which  has  been  outlined  above.  This 
usually  begins  May  15-25,  and  continues  until  July 
25-31,  differing,  of  course,  in  different  latitudes. 


72  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

Practically  all  varieties  of  apples  can  be  grown  as 
dwarfs,  though  some  succeed  on  Paradise  roots  better 
than  others.  Some  varieties  also  are  better  adapted 
for  special  forms,  as  for  cordons,  than  are  others. 
Such  requirements  are  not  very  strict,  and  a  careful 
gardener  can  grow  practically  anything  he  wants  to. 
Patrick  Barry,  in  his  "Fruit  Garden,"  recommends 
'/twenty  very  large  and  beautiful  sorts  for  dwarfs," 
having  in  mind  American  conditions,  and  especially 
his  own  experience  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.  His  list  is 
as  follows: 

Red  Astrachan  Porter 

Large  Sweet  Bough  Menagere 

Primate  Red  Bietigheimer 

Beauty  of  Kent  Bailey  Sweet 

Alexander  Canada  Reinette 

Duchess  of  Oldenburg  Northern  Spy 

Fall  Pippin  Mother 

Williams'  Favorite  King  of  Tompkins  County 

Gravenstein  Twenty   Ounce 

Hawthornden  Wagener 

Maiden's  Blush 

In  Europe,  where  greater  attention  has  been  paid 
to  these  matters,  the  opinion  has  settled  down  to  a 
comparatively  limited  number.  For  example,  Mr. 
George  Bunyard  in  'The  Fruit  Garden"  recommends 
the  following  varieties  for  cordons: 

Mr.  Gladstone    .     .     .     Aug.  Mother Oct. 

Devonshire  Quarrenden  Aug.  Calville  Rouge  Precoce  .  Oct. 

James  Grieve     .     .     .     Sept.  Cox's  Orange  Pippin 

Wealthy Oct.  Oct.,  Feb. 

Margil Oct.  St.  Edmund's  Pippin    .    Nov. 

King  of   Pippins      .     .     Oct.  Ross    Nonpareil      .     .     Nov. 


DWARF     APPLES 


73 


Duchess  of  Oldenburg  .  Aug. 
Pott's  Seedling  .  .  Sept. 
Lord  Grosvenor  .  .  Sept. 
Adams'  Pearmain  .  Dec. 
Hubbard's  Pearmain  .  Dec. 
Allington  Pippin  .  Nov.,  Feb. 
Scarlet  Nonpareil  .  Jan.,  Feb. 
Norman's  Pippin  .  .  Jan. 
Lord  Burghley  .  .  .  Feb. 
Duke  of  Devonshire  .  Feb. 
Rosemary  Russet  .  .  Feb. 
Sturmer  Pippin  .  Very  late 
Allen's  Everlasting  Very  late 


Fearn's  Pippin  .  Very  late 
Lord  Derby  .  .  .  Nov. 

Bismarck Dec. 

Lane's  Prince  Albert 

Jan.,  March 

Lord  Suffield  .  .  Sept. 
Grenadier  .  .  Sept.,  Oct. 
Golden  Spire  .  Sept.,  Oct. 
Seaton  House  .  Sept.,  Oct. 
Sandringham  .  .  .  Feb. 
Alfriston  .  .  Feb.,  March 
Calville  Malingre  Feb  to  Mch. 
Calville  Rouge  Feb.  to  Mch. 


The    same    authority    recommends    the    following 
varieties  to  be  grown  on  Paradise  stocks  as  bushes : 


Beauty  of  Bath  .  July,  Aug. 
Red  Quarrenden  .  July,  Aug. 
Lady  Sudeley  .  .  .  Sept. 
Worcester  Pearmain 

Sept.,  Oct. 

Yellow  Angestrie  .  .  Sept. 
Duchess'  Favorite 

Sept.  to  Oct. 

King  of  the  Pippins  .  Oct. 
Early  White  Transparent  J'ly. 
Lord  Suffield  .  Aug.,  Sept. 
Pott's  Seedling  .  Aug.,  Sept. 
Lord  Grosvenor  .  Aug.,  Sept. 
Early  Julien  .  Aug.,  Sept. 
Ecklinville  Seedling 

Sept.,  Oct. 

Grenadier  .  .  Sept.,  Oct. 
Stirling  Castle  .  Sept.,  Oct. 


Golden  Spire  .  Sept.,  Oct. 
Cox's  Orange  Pippin 

Nov.,  Feb. 

Beauty  of  Barnack  .  Nov. 
Allington  Pippin  .  Dec.,  Feb. 
Gascoigne's  Scarlet  .  Dec. 
Christmas  Pearmain  .  Dec. 
Winter  Quarrenden  .  Dec. 
Baumann's  Reinette  .  Jan. 
Lord  Derby  .  Oct.,  Nov. 
Stone's  Apple  .  Oct.,  Nov. 
Tower  of  Glamis  .  Oct.,  Nov. 
Warner's  King  .  Oct.,  Nov. 
Bismarck  .  .  .  Oct.,  Nov. 
Lane's  Prince  Albert 

Dec,  Mch. 

Bramley's  Seedling  Dec.,  Mch. 
Newton  Wonder  Dec.,  Mch. 


DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 


Max  Loebener  in  his  book  on  dwarf  fruits  recom- 
mends the  following  varieties  for  dwarf  apples: 


Belle  de  Boskoop  Nov.,  Ma> 
Virginia  Rose  .  .  .  Aug. 
Red  Peach  Summer  Apple 

Aug.,  Sept- 
Lord   Sumeld 
Cellini      .     . 
Alexander 


Gravenstein 


Red  Astrachan    .    July,  Aug. 
Yellow  Transparent 

Aug.,  Sept. 

Charlamowsky    .    Aug.,  Sept. 
Transparent  de  Croncels 

Sept.,  Oct. 

Prince  Apple  .  Sept.,  Jan. 
Danzig  .  .  .  Oct.,  Dec. 
Dean's  Codlin  .  Oct.  to  Feb. 
Landbury  Reinette  Nov.,  Feb. 
Cox's  Orange  .  Nov.  to  Mch. 
Requires  good  soil 
Winter  Gold  Pearmain 

Nov.,  March 

Ribston  Pippin    .    Nov.,  April 

Good  warm  soil 

Canada  Reinette  .  Nov.,  April 

Hardy 

Inasmuch  as  the  advantages  of  the  dwarf  trees 
apply  especially  to  the  growing  of  fine  fruit,  only  the 
better  varieties  should  generally  be  propagated  in  this 
way.  On  this  basis,  therefore,  rather  than  on  the 
basis  of  adaptation  learned  from  experience,  the  fol- 
lowing varieties  may  be  suggested  among  the  well 
known  American  sorts  for  growing  in  dwarf  form: 


Aug.,  Oct. 
Sept.,   Nov. 
Oct.,    Dec. 
Oct.  to  Jan. 
For  moist  soils,  bears  late 
Yellow  Richard  .   Nov.,  Dec. 
Bismarck    .     .      .    Nov.,  Feb. 
Yellow  Bellflower 

Nov.  to  April 
Requires  good  position 
Baumann's  Reinette 

Dec.,  May 


Baldwin 

Esopus 

Mother 

Williams'    Favorite 

Sutton 

King 

Northern  Spy 

Grimes 

Winesap 


Yellow  Transparent 

Mclntosh 

Red  Astrachan 

Alexander 

Wolf  River 

Ribston  Pippin 

Wealthy 

Wagener 


DWARF   APPLES  75 

Of  course,  one  propagating  dwarf  apples  would 
always  select  his  own  favorites.  It  should  be  noticed 
that  in  the  list  given  above  are  some  varieties  which 
are  notable  for  beauty  of  appearance  rather  than 
for  superior  quality.  They  are  recommended  on  the 
former  consideration.  Certain  varieties  in  the  list, 
for  instance  Alexander,  are  known  to  succeed  es- 
pecially well  as  dwarfs. 


VIII 
DWARF  PEARS 

PEARS  are  the  fruit  most  largely  grown  in  dwarf 
form  in  America.  There  are  a  few  well  established 
and  successful  commercial  orchards  of  pears,  especially 
in  western  New  York  and  Michigan.  The  pear  is 


FIG.   28 — YOUNG  ORCHARD   OF   DWARF  PEARS   IN    WESTERN 
NEW    YORK 

the  fruit  most  assiduously  cultivated  in  dwarf  and 
trained  forms  in  Europe.  At  the  same  time  it  is  the 
one  with  which  I  confess  I  have  had  the  least  satis- 
faction. This  is  perhaps  because  I  have  always  ex- 

76 


DWARF     PEARS 


77 


perimented  in  a  country  where  pears  do  not  naturally 
succeed,  and  because,  further,  my  fancies  have  run 
more  to  other  kinds  of  fruit. 

It  is  probably  true  that  the  pear  is  improved  more 


FIG.    29 — DWARF    PEARS    IN    THE    OLD    AND    PROFITABLE    YEOMANS 
ORCHARD,    NEW    YORK 

in  quality  than  any  other  fruit  by  being  grown  in 
dwarf  form  and  trained  as  cordons  and  espaliers  on 
a  suitable  frame  or  wall.  This  is  emphatically  true  in 
cold  and  inclement  climates,  where  indeed  some  of 


78  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

the  best  varieties  of  pears  will  not  succeed  at  all 
unless  given  this  advantage.  A  west  wall  is  recom- 
mended as  giving  the  very  finest  results.  It  should 
be  noted,  however,  that  some  varieties  do  better  on 
walls  than  others.  Those  which  grow  vigorously  in 
bush,  pyramid,  or  standard  forms  receive  compara- 
tively less  benefit  from  wall  training. 

The  pear  is  the  best  of  all  trees  for  training  in 
pyramid  form.  Sometimes  very  tall  slim  pyramids 
are  made,  becoming  almost  pillars  of  foliage  and  fruit 
in  their  old  age.  These  may  be  in  fact  upright  cor- 
dons which  are  trained  with  strong  stems  and  allowed 
to  support  themselves  without  a  trellis.  Some  of  the 
less  upright  growing  varieties  are  difficult  to  form 
into  pyramids,  and  such  may  be  pruned  in  the  ordi- 
nary bush  or  vase  form.  In  growing  dwarf  pears 
commercially,  as  is  sometimes  done,  it  is  probably 
best  to  give  most  varieties  the  bush  form.  The  pyra- 
mid is  rather  harder  to  maintain. 

The  pear  succeeds  well  as  a  cordon  tree.  Perhaps 
the  best  form  is  the  oblique  cordon,  one  placed  at 
an  angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees  with  the  horizon. 
The  upright  and  horizontal  cordons  may  also  be  used, 
though  neither  of  these  forms  is  specially  well  adapted 
to  pears. 

All  of  the  better  types  of  espaliers  are  suited  to 
pear  trees.  Probably  the  Palmette-Verrier  is  the 
best,  although  the  old  fashioned  espaliers  are  often 
used.  The  U-form  and  the  double  U-form  also  suc- 
ceed if  well  built. 

The  pruning  of  the  pear  tree  is  substantially  the 
same  as  that  of  the  apple.  Where  pear  blight  is  a 


DWARF     PEARS 


79 


factor  in  the  problem,  due  allowance  must  be  made 
for  it.  It  sometimes  happens  that  entire  branches  or 
arms  have  to  be  cut  away  on  account  of  blighting. 
The  system  of  pruning  therefore  should  furnish  a 


FIG.   30 — ORCHARD  OF  DWARF  DUCHESS  PEARS,  LOCKPORT,  N.   Y. 

means   of   renewing   such  members    promptly    when 
necessity  requires. 

The  quince  root  prefers  a   fairly  heavy  and  even 
moist  soil.     A  heavy  clay  loam  is  best,  although  a 


8o 


DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 


strong  clay  will  answer.  Light  sandy  soils  or  loose 
gravelly  soils  will  not  give  such  good  results.  On  the 
other  hand  any  clay  soil  which  holds  water  to  a 
considerable  extent  will  answer.  As  these  are  the 
requirements  for  quince  roots,  they  become  also  the 
requirements  for  dwarf  pears.  Any  attempt  to  grow 


FIG.    31 — PYRAMID    PEARS    IN    A    GERMAN    ORCHARD 

dwarf   pears   on   a   light  loose   soil   is   almost   certain 
to  prove  a  failure. 

It  is  often  said  that  dwarf  pears  should  be  planted 
deep  in  the  ground  when  they  are  set  out.  The  rule 
is  to  put  them  deep  enough  so  that  the  bud  union 
will  be  buried  beneath  the  surface  of  the  soil.  With 
such  treatment  the  pear  itself  often  throws  out  roots 
and  eventually  establishes  a  feeding  system  of  its 
own,  becoming  independent  of  the  quince  stock.  It 


DWARF    PEARS  8 1 

is  then  no  longer  a  dwarf  tree  except  by  the  authority 
of  the  pruning  knife.  It  is  probably  true  that  many 
varieties  of  dwarf  pears  are  longer  lived  when  treated 
in  this  way.  In  planting,  therefore,  it  becomes  a 
question  whether  one  desires  chiefly  a  long-lived  tree 
or  a  strictly  dwarf  one.  The  ease  with  which  dwarf 
trees  are  replaced  makes  longevity  a  less  important 
factor  than  in  commercial  orchards  of  standard  trees. 

Of  course,  it  is  understood  that  if  the  dwarfest 
form  is  to  be  maintained,  the  tree  must  be  planted  high 
enough  to  leave  the  union  out  of  the  ground,  thus  pre- 
venting the  pear  from  throwing  out  roots  of  its  own. 

The  varieties  principally  grown  in  this  country  as 
dwarfs  are  Angouleme,  Bartlett,  Anjou,  and  Louise 
Bonne. 

In  European  nurseries  the  list  of  pears  propagated 
on  quince  roots  is  much  larger.  The  following  varieties 
are  recommended  for  England  by  Mr.  Owen  Thomas, 
and  are  said  to  be  particularly  good  for  training  on 
walls : 

Buerre  Giffard  La  France 

Clapp's    Favorite  Buerre  d' Anjou 

Jargonelle  Buerre  de  Jonghe 

Williams'    (Bartlett)  Doyenne  d'Alenqon 

Buerre  d'Amanlis  Glou   Morceau 

Fondante  d'Automne  Marie   Benoist 

Triomphe  de  Vienne  Winter    Nelis 

Buerre  Bosc  Buerre  Diel 

Buerre  Hardy  Xouvelle  Fulvie 

Buerre  Brown  Buerre    Sterckmans 

Comte  de  Lamy  Easter  Buerre 

Louise  Bonne  de  Jersey  Le  Lectier 

Pitmaston   Duchess  Olivier  d'e  Serres 


82  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

Seckel  Passe   Crassane 

Conference  Ne   Plus   Meuris 

Doyenne  du  Cornice  Bergamotte  Esperen 

Marie  Louise  Buerre  Ranee 

Thompson's  Josephine  de  Malines 
Duchesse    d'Angouleme 


IX 
DWARF  PEACHES 

THE  peach  as  a  dwarf  tree  is  almost  unknown  in 
America.  It  is  not  very  often  grown  as  a  dwarf 
even  in  Europe,  except  when  it  is  trained  on  walls  or 
grown  in  houses.  The  species,  however,  is  easily 
dwarfed  and  makes  a  good  tree  in  various  forms  when 
well  propagated.  The  methods  by  which  dwarf 
peaches  are  propagated  are  fully  described  in  the 
chapter  devoted  to  that  subject. 

Peach  trees  growing  on  plum  stocks  and  formed 
in  vases  or  bushes  make  excellent  garden  trees.  Nat- 
urally they  should  be  headed  low,  best  within  three 
to  six  inches  of  the  ground.  They  then  make  fine, 
regular,  well  balanced  tops  which  are  easily  kept 
opened  out  in  the  desired  vase  form.  Such  trees 
usually  come  into  bearing  one  or  two  years  earlier 
than  those  propagated  and  trained  in  the  usual  way. 
In  a  country  like  New  England  where  peach  growing 
is  largely  a  system  of  gambling  against  cold  weather, 
and  where  the  business  largely  resolves  itself  into  a 
race  for  getting  a  crop  before  the  trees  freeze  back, 
the  smaller  stature  and  the  earlier  bearing  of  the 
dwarf  ttree  are  obvious  advantages.  It  has  not  yet 
been  shown  that  this  may  be  turned  to  account  on 
a  commercial  scale,  but  there  seem  to  be  possibilities 
in  it.  In  case  the  peach  grower  undertakes  the  method 
of  laying  down  his  peach  trees  and  covering  them 


84 


DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 


during  the  winter  to  save  them  from  freezing,  the 
smaller  growth  of  the  dwarf  trees  would  prove  a 
decided  advantage.  This  method  of  handling  peach 
trees  has  proved  a  practical  success  under  certain 
conditions. 

The   peach    does   not   succeed   as   a   cordon.      The 


FIG.    32 — DWARF    PEACH    IN    NURSERY 
Headed  back  and  formed  into  bushes 

nearest  that  this  form  can  be  successfully  approached 
is  the  U-form.  The  double  U-form  is  probably  even 
better.  The  fan  form  of  training  is  the  best  of  all 
methods  of  training  for  the  peach.  The  tree  makes 
wood  so  rapidly  that  considerable  space  has  to  be 


DWARF     PEACHES  85 

provided  for  the  annual  growth.    The  fan  form  being 
less  definite  in  its  makeup  can  be  more  readily  adapted 
to  the  exigencies  of  rapid  growth  and  severe  cutting 
out. 
On  account  of  its  more  vigorous  growth  the  peach 


FIG.    33 — ESPALIER    PEACH,    HARTFORD,    CONN. 

demands  even  more  drastic  pruning  than  that  already 
described  for  apples  and  pears.  The  method  of  manag- 
ing a  peach  tree,  however,  differs  in  some  details. 
There  is  not  such  a  distinct  establishment  of  leaders 
at  the  end  of  the  shoot;  and  since  the  peach  never 
forms  fruit  spurs  like  those  of  the  apple,  the  pruning 
of  the  fruit-bearing  wood  is  necessarily  different.  The 


86  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

best  fruit  buds  are  formed  on  the  strong  clean  shoots 
of  the  current  season's  growth.  These  must  be  allowed 
to  grow  far  enough  and  vigorously  enough  to  ripen 
good  fruit  buds.  If  they  make  too  much  growth, 
however,  the  side  buds  start  secondary  branches  and 
the  fruiting  prospects  are  reduced.  The  management 
of  the  tree  must  be  such  as  to  keep  this  growth  of 
new  wood  in  just  the  proper  balance. 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  idea  thus  outlined,  an 
early  spring  pruning  is  given  while  the  trees  are 
dormant,  and  several  successive  primings  are  ad- 
ministered during  the  growing  season.  At  the  spring 
pruning  a  considerable  amount  of  wood  is  cut  out 
from  all  portions  of  the  tree,  the  amount  thus  removed 
being  much  greater  than  that  from  the  pear  or  apple 
trees  at  the  same  season.  The  old  decrepit  and 
diseased  branches  are  taken  first  for  removal,  and  then 
one  year  old  wood  is  cut  back  where  necessary,  so 
as  to  leave  two  or  three  buds  at  the  base  of  each 
branch. 

The  first  summer  pruning  is  given  about  May  I5th 
to  2Oth,  after  the  growth  has  well  begun.  A  vigorous 
tree  will  start  more  shoots  than  there  is  room  for, 
and  these  are  thinned  out  until  all  have  sufficient 
space.  A  few  of  the  most  vigorous  ones  are  pinched 
back  at  this  time.  One  week  to  ten  days  later  the 
trees  are  gone  over  again,  at  which  time  the  principal 
pinching  back  is  done.  The  shoots  which  are  making 
too  much  growth,  especially  on  the  interior  of  the  tree 
or  on  the  main  arms,  are  stopped.  A  third  pruning 
is  given  about  June  first,  and  consists  chiefly  in  re- 
moving weak  shoots  or  those  which  are  crowding  one 


DWARF     PEACHES 


8.7 


another,  and  cutting  back  those  which  are  growing 
too  far. 

The  peach  usually  requires  a  comparatively  light 
soil  and  a  warm  exposure.  The  plum  root  upon  which 
a  dwarf  peach  is  budded  will  usually  succeed  in  a 


FIG.    34— PEACH     IN    FAN    ESPALIER    ON    WALL,    ENGLAND 

considerably  heavier  soil,  and  the  method  of  budding 
on  plum  is  therefore  sometimes  practised  with  the 
specific  object  of  adapting  the  peach  tree  to  heavier 
soils.  Inasmuch  as  various  kinds  of  plums  succeed 
in  all  soils  on  which  any  crop  can  be  grown,  from 
light  sand  to  heavy  clay,  it  is  not  difficult  to  meet 
any  reasonable  requirements  in  this  respect. 


88 


DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 


All  varieties  of  peaches  and  nectarines  seem  to 
succeed  equally  well  as  dwarfs.  Those  varieties  which 
are  grown  as  dwarfs  in  Europe  are  naturally  the  ones 
which  are  favorites  there.  In  this  country  the  favorite 
varieties  are  almost  altogether  different  and  we  would 


FIG.     35 — PEACH     TREES     TRAINED     UNDER    GLASS 

expect  to  choose  such  sorts  as  Late  Crawford,  Foster, 
Old  Mixon,  Belle  of  Georgia,  Champion,  Waddell. 
and  other  choice  American  varieties  for  our  use. 

The  nectarine  is  in  large  favor  in  Europe  and  is 
much  more  extensively  grown  than  in  America.  The 
merits  of  this  fruit  seem  to  have  been  strangely  over- 
looked in  this  country.  When  nectarines  are  properly 


DWARF    PEACHES       .  89 

grown  under  glass,  they  are  one  of  the  most  delicious 
and  beautiful  fruits  known  in  this  world  of  limitations 
and  disappointments.  The  nectarine  is  a  fruit  which 
will  in  general  bear  more  extensive  cultivation  in 
America  and  which  is  to  be  especially  recommended 
for  dwarf  fruit  gardens.  This  is  not  to  say  that  it 
should  supersede  the  peach,  or  even  that  it  should 
take  equal  prominence,  but  simply  that  it  should  be 
well  represented  in  every  selection  of  fruits  for  an 
amateur's  collection. 


X 
DWARF  PLUMS 

MOST  amateur  and  professional  fruit  growers  are 
less  interested  in  plums  than  in  other  tree  fruits.  Per- 
haps I  am  prejudiced,  but  I  feel  that  this  is  not  fair 
to  the  plum.  Plums  yield  some  profit  when  rightly 
cultivated  commercially,  and  no  end  of  satisfaction 
when  cultivated  for  the  gardener's  own  entertainment. 
The  large  assortment  of  varieties  which  one  may 
secure  is  in  itself  a  claim  to  interest,  and  a  source 
of  much  delight  to  the  collector.  The  fact  that 
different  types  of  plums  furnish  fruit  of  very  di- 
verse characters  makes  the  collection  more  valuable 
from  every  standpoint.  So  far  as  the  writer  knows 
dwarf  plums  have  seldom  been  grown  to  any  extent 
in  America.  They  certainly  have  no  present  claim 
based  on  experience  for  recognition  in  commercial 
orchards.  Nevertheless  they  have  possibilities  even 
for  the  growing  of  market  fruit,  and  for  cultivation  in 
the  garden,  dwarf  trees  are  altogether  worth  while. 

In  the  chapter  on  propagation,  reference  has  been 
made  to  the  stocks  used  for  plums  and  that  subject 
need  not  be  discussed  here. 

When  plum  trees  have  been  secured  budded  on 
suitable  dwarfing  stocks,  as,  for  example,  Americana 
or  sand  cherry,  they  may  be  trained  in  a  variety  of 
ways.  Probably  the  ordinary  bush  form  is  the  best. 
Most  varieties  of  plums  do  not  form  either  a  satis- 

90 


FIG.    36— PLUM    TREES    TRAINED    AS    UPRIGHT    CORDONS 


92  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

factory  pyramid  or  a  strictly  vase  form.  Some  of  the 
better  growing  Japanese  varieties  of  plums  approach 
the  latter  form  fairly  well.  Red  June,  Satsuma,  and 
Chabot  may  be  mentioned  as  particular  examples. 
With  such  varieties  a  true  vase  form  can  be  main- 
tained as  well  as  with  peaches.  In  dealing  with  a 
majority  of  varieties,  however,  a  simple  bush-like  head 
without  a  mathematically  constructed  frame  work  is 
about  the  best  that  can  be  secured.  In  most  cases  the 
head  should  be  formed  low,  preferably  not  more  than 
six  inches  from  the  ground.  Still  considerable  lati- 
tude has  to  be  allowed  the  gardener's  fancy  in  deal- 
ing with  dwarf  trees,  and  the  writer  can  easily  imag- 
ine a  garden  design  which  would  require  trees  to  be 
high  headed.  It  would  be  practicable  and  excusable 
in  some  cases  to  form  heads  four,  five,  or  even  six 
feet  from  the  ground.  This  is  often  done  in  England 
and  Germany  with  all  sorts  of  fruit  trees,  this  form 
being  referred  to  as  a  "standard." 

A  head  can  be  secured  at  almost  any  point  on  a 
plum  tree  of  good  growth,  by  heading  back  at  the 
desired  height.  Four  to  six  branches  should  be  allowed 
to  grow  the  first  year  and  in  course  of  time  these  will 
be  increased  to  eight,  twelve,  or  even  more.  That  is, 
there  will  be  this  number  of  what  we  might  call  main 
branches  because  they  are  all  of  approximately  equal 
importance. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year  after  the  tree  has  been 
headed  back  the  main  branches,  which  have  now 
formed,  are  to  be  cut  back  in  turn.  With  all  strong- 
growing  varieties  it  is  best  to  remove  from  one  half 
to  two-thirds  of  the  annual  growth  from  these  main 


DWARF     PLUMS  93 

branches,  if  the  tree  is  to  be  restricted  to  a  com- 
paratively narrow  spread.  A  considerable  number  of 
strong  shoots  will  put  forth  the  next  year.  These 
should  be  thinned  out  as  soon  as  they  start  to  a  number 
approximately  twice  that  of  the  main  arms.  These 
new  branches  should  be  distributed  as  symmetrically 
as  possible.  The  tree  top  is  now  formed  and  sub- 
sequent pruning"  consists  essentially  of  a  severe  head- 
ing in  during  the  latter  part  of  the  dormant  season, 
that  is,  about  March,  followed  by  two,  three,  or  four 
summer  prunings  somewhat  after  the  manner  described 
for  the  peach.  At  the  time  of  these  summer  prunings 
the  young  growing  shoots  should  be  thinned  out 
enough  to  prevent  any  choking  of  the  tree  top  and 
should  be  headed  in  wherever  it  is  necessary  to  re- 
tain the  symmetrical  growth. 

The  manner  of  forming  the  fruit  buds  or  spurs  is 
so  diverse  in  the  different  kinds  of  plums  that  no 
general  rule  can  be  given  for  encouraging  them.  Close 
observation  of  each  variety  will  soon  enable  the  gar- 
dener to  direct  his  pruning  in  such  a  way  as  to  assist 
in  this  important  process  of  fruit  bud  formation.  In 
a  rough  general  way  it  may  be  said  that  the  Domes- 
tica  and  Americana  varieties  of  plums  form  distinct 
fruit  spurs  along  the  sides  of  one  and  two  year  old 
branches,  and  that,  for  the  encouragement  of  these, 
considerable  light  should  be  admitted  and  the  growth 
of  the  interior  shoots  rather  rigidly  checked.  The 
Japanese  and  Hortulana  varieties  on  the  other  hand 
fruit  best  from  very  short  spurs  or  clusters  of  buds 
which  form  along  from  the  strong  one  and  two  year 


94  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

old  branches.  The  main  object,  therefore,  with  these 
latter  varieties  is  to  maintain  a  succession  of  clean, 
sound,  well  matured  shoots.  This  is  done  by  a  mod- 
erate thinning  of  the  main  shoots  early  in  the  year, 
resulting  in  the  forcing  of  those  which  are  left.  These 
strong  growing  shoots  are  checked  late  in  the  summer 
in  order  that  they  may  ripen  up  thoroughly,  but  the 
pinching  which  is  done  to  this  end  is  delayed  long 
enough  so  that  the  pinched  shoots  will  not  start  into 
growth  again.  Moreover,  this  pinching  is  done  well 
out  to  the  ends  of  the  shoots. 

Certain  varieties  of  plums  succeed  fairly  well  as 
vertical  cordons.  The  varieties  least  adapted  to  this 
purpose  are  the  Hortulana  offspring  and  their  hybrids 
and  a  few  of  the  rank-growing  Japanese,  like  Hale  and 
October  Purple.  In  the  dwarf  tree  garden  at  the 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  the  writer  has  a 
row  of  plum  trees  containing  a  large  assortment  of 
varieties  and  species.  These  trees  were  picked  out 
at  random  from  various  sources  and  very  few  of  them 
were  propagated  on  dwarfing  stocks.  On  this  ac- 
count the  trees  were  set  two  feet  apart,  which  is  more 
than  is  usually  recommended  for  upright  cordons. 
They  have  now  been  growing  three  years,  and  they 
furnish  much  interesting  testimony  regarding  the 
feasibility  of  growing  plums  in  this  form.  Contrary 
to  expectation  such  varieties  as  Red  June,  Abundance, 
and  Burbank  have  done  well  under  this  treatment. 
These  varieties  all  fruited  the  next  year-  after  planting. 
Some  varieties  of  the  Domestica  group  are  bearing 
the  third  year  after  planting,  which  is  unusually  early. 


FIG.    37 — BURBANK    PLUMS   ON    UPRIGHT   CORDONS    TRAINED   TG> 
TRELLIS 


9P  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

All  of  them  seem  to  be  fairly  well  adapted  to  this 
method  of  treatment.  Varieties  like  Wildgoose  and 
Wayland,  and  such  hybrids  as  Gonzales,  Waugh  and 
Red  May,  can  hardly  be  controlled  in  the  restricted 
space  allowed  them  in  a  row  of  vertical  cordons. 
They  give  very  little  promise  of  success.  It  is  prob- 
able that  all  these  varieties  would  make  a  better 
showing  if  they  were  propagated  on  some  such  stock 
as  sand  cherry. 

Plums  are  seldom — almost  never — propagated  as 
horizontal  cordons.  I  have  never  yet  undertaken  it 
myself,  but  propose  to  do  so  at  the  first  opportunity 
and  with  some  expectation  of  moderate  success  with 
certain  varieties.  The  slow  growing  sorts  like  Green, 
Gage,  Italian  Prune,  and  Agen  seem  to  offer  special 
promise. 

In  the  form  of  espaliers  plums  are  often  trained 
against  walls.  Indeed  this  is  the  favorite  way  of 
producing  fancy  plums  in  England,  and  the  same 
practise  prevails  to  a  considerable  extent  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe.  In  this  country  walls  are  not  re- 
quired, and  in  most  cases  would  be  of  no  advantage. 
Where  it  is  desired  to  cover  back  fences  or  sides  of 
buildings,  however,  plum  trees  in  espalier  form  can 
be  confidently  recommended.  The  Domestica  varie- 
ties of  highest  quality  such  as  Bavay,  Jefferson,  Vic- 
toria, Pond,  Bradshaw,  and  Coe's  Golden  Drop  would 
have  first  choice.  The  Japanese  varieties  can  also 
be  grown  on  trellises  or  walls,  but  the  freer  forms, 
such  as  the  fan  espalier  used  for  the  peach,  are  better 
suited  to  their  habits  of  growth. 


DWARF    PLUMS  97 

The  following  varieties  of  plums  can  be  recom- 
mended for  dwarf  bush  forms: 

Green  Gage  Bavay    (Reine  Claude) 

Jefferson  McLaughlin 

Bradshaw  Pond 

Agen  Bleeker 

Grand  Duke  Italian   Prune 

Cluster  Damson  (or  other  Damsons) 

Such  varieties  of  the  Japanese  class  as  Abundance, 
Chabot,  Red  June,  Satsuma,  Burbank  may  be  grown 
on  dwarf  stocks  in  bush  forms,  but  they  are  not  al- 
together satisfactory.  There  are  two  objections 
against  them :  ( i )  It  is  difficult  to  keep  them  in  re- 
stricted bounds,  such  a  result  being  dependent  on  con- 
stant and  severe  heading  in.  (2)  They  overgrow  the 
dwarf  stocks  very  strongly  and  thus  do  not  have  a 
very  firm  hold  on  the  ground.  They  are  apt  to  blow 
over  or  break  off  after  a  few  years,  unless  carefully 
staked  up. 

The  following  varieties  can  be  recommended  for 
upright  cordons,  in  which  form  they  will  give  moderate 
success  if  properly  managed : 

Coe's  Golden  Drop  Bradshaw 

Agen  Bavay 

Victoria  Lombard 

Grand  Duke  Chabot 

Abundance  Cheney 

Burbank  Aubert   (Yellow  Egg  or  Mag- 
num Bonum) 

Also  most  of  the  clean-growing  Americana  varieties 
such  as  Smith,  Terry,  Stoddard,  etc. 


9&  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

Mr.   Owen   Thomas   recommends   for   growing   on 
walls  in  England  the  following  varieties : 

Green  Gage  Brahy's   Green  Gage 

Brandy  Gage  Bryanstone  Gage 

Denniston's  Superb  Gage  Oullin's  Golden  Gage 

Comte  d'Athem's  Gage  Golden  Transparent  Gage 

Transparent    Gage  Reine  Claude  de  Bavay 

Transparent  Late  Gage  Coe's  Golden  Drop 

Jefferson  Kirke's  Blue 

Reine   Claude  Violette  Washington 


XI 
BUSH  FRUITS 

THE  bush  fruits,  so  far  as  I  know,  are  never  culti- 
vated as  dwarfs.  To  speak  more  exactly  I  should 
say  that  no  dwarf  stock  is  ever  used  to  reduce  the 
size  to  which  the  plants  grow.  On  the  other  hand,  bush 
fruits  are  often  systematically  pruned  back  in  order 
to  restrict  their  size,  and  are  sometimes  trained  in 
elaborate  forms  as  dwarf  fruit  trees  are.  To  this 
extent  they  are  managed  in  the  same  way  and  might 
properly  be  treated  in  the  same  general  category. 
What  is  more  to  our  purpose,  they  are  almost  always 
included  in  the  plan  of  any  private  fruit  garden  on 
a  restricted  area,  such  as  we  have  had  chiefly  in  view 
in  this  discussion  of  dwarf  fruit  trees.  These  reasons 
make  it  appropriate,  if  not  indeed  essential,  that 
something  should  be  said  regarding,  these  fruits,  here. 

All  bush  fruits  can  be  grown  in  -such  forms  as  cor- 
dons, espaliers,  etc.  Anything  of  this  s|xrt  which  the 
gardener  wishes  can  become  a  part  of  his^  garden  of 
little  trees.  Gooseberries  and  currants  offer*ethe  most 
entertainment  and  remuneration  when  subjected  to 
special  priming  and  training,  and  indeed  they  should 
not  be  omitted  from  any  garden  scheme  of  this  kind. 
Raspberries-axe-  less  amenable. to  this  kind  of  educa- 
tion and  should  be  introduced  with  some  care.  Black- 
berries are  necessarily  difficult  to  handle  and  no 
very  complicated  schemes  of  pruning  and  training 

99 


I 

d 

E 


BUSH    FRUITS  IOI 

can  be  successfully  applied  to  them.  Such  other  fruits 
as  Loganberries,  strawberry-raspberries,  June  berries, 
etc.,  may  be  introduced  "at  the  owner's  risk."  Any 
of  them  will  submit  to  a  certain  amount  of  correction 
with  the  pruning  knife,  and  may  add  to  the  variety 
of  fruits  grown  in  the  amateur's  garden.  Of  course, 
it  is  distinctly  understood  that  these  special  methods 
of  treatment  are  not  commercially  recommended  for 
any  of  the  bush  fruits  in  America. 

Probably  the  most  interesting  and  practical  way 
for  handling  gooseberries  and  currants  in  dwarf  fruit 
gardens  is  the  form  known  as  standards.  This  form 
consists  of  a  small  round  fruiting  top  of  almost  any 
desired  variety  grafted  high  upon  a  straight  clean 
trunk  or  stem.  This  stem  may  have  any  convenient 
height  from  two  to  ten  feet,  the  most  common  and 
practical  height  being  about  four  feet.  The  stock 
used  is  the  flowering  currant,  Ribes  aurenm,  which 
forms  a  sufficiently  strong  and  upright  growth  for 
this  purpose.  Nevertheless  it  is  almost  always  neces- 
sary to  support  these  standards  with  a  convenient  stake 
apiece.  For  the  present  these  standard  gooseberries 
and  currants  can  be  obtained  only  of  the  European 
nurserymen.  At  least  the  writer  knows  of  no  one 
who  propagates  them  in  America.  There  are  several 
importers,  however,  who  make  a  business  of  supply- 
ing European  stock  and  who  are  always  glad  to  im- 
port these  on  order. 

The  finer  varieties  are  especially  chosen  for  grow- 
ing as  standards.  This  applies  particularly  to  goose- 
berries, which  are  more  widely  grown  and  which  are 
more  highly  prized  in  Europe  than  in  this  country. 


BUSH     FRUITS  103 

The  varieties  grown  in  Europe  are  usually  finer  table 
fruits  than  the  American  varieties.  It  is  generally  un- 
derstood that  the  finest  fruits  for  eating  fresh  out  of 
hand  are  secured  from  the  standard  gooseberries. 

Gooseberries  and  currants  are  also  adapted  easily 
to  the  espalier  form.  The  most  elaborate  palmettes 
and  other  geometrical  designs  can  be  worked  out. 
Nevertheless  the  simplest  and  most  practical  form  for 
trained  gooseberries  and  currants  is  the  fan  shape.  If 
a  suitable  trellis  is  provided,  the  vines  may  be  easily 
tied  out  upon  it  in  very  attractive  fan  forms  and  these 
are  found  to  be  quite  satisfactory,  both  as  regards 
their  looks  and  their  product  of  fruit.  They  are  also 
easily  sprayed,  which  is  a  consideration  worth  mention- 
ing when  one  has  to  fight  the  currant  worm.  In  gen- 
eral, it  is  best  in  our  latitude  to  run  these  espaliers 
north  and  south,  because  they  receive  too  much  sun 
when  the  trellis  runs  east  and  west.  This  rule,  how- 
ever, is  not  absolute. 

Probably  the  most  convenient  and  practical  way  for 
growing  these  fruits  in  the  dwarf  tree  garden  is  to 
plant  standards  at  regular  intervals  in  a  row,  say 
six  feet  apart,  and  to  plant  a  certain  number  of  fan 
shaped  bushes  between  each  pair  of  standards  in  the 
row.  If  these  standards  were  six  feet  apart,  two 
plants  for  fan  training  would  be  enough  between  each 
pair.  The  top  of  the  trellis  on  which  the  fan  forms 
are  tied,  would  not  be  above  four  feet  high,  better 
only  three.  The  heads  of  the  standards  then  rise  well 
above  the  top  of  the  trellis.  This  furnishes  some  sup- 
port for  the  stem  of  the  standard  and  economizes 


104 


DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 


space.    Economy  of  space  is  one  of  the  first  principles 
of  this  style  of  gardening. 

No  list  need  be  given  here  of  the  varieties  of  goose- 
berries and  currants  to  be  recommended  for  this  class 


FIG.    40— TREE    FORM    GOOSEBERRY 

of  planting.  It  may  be  said  that  any  of  the  favorite 
varieties  of  currants  grown  in  this  country,  as  for 
example,  Fay,  Victoria,  Red  Versailles,  etc.,  may  be 
chosen,  and  that  these  are  indeed  the  varieties  usually 
preferred  in  Europe.  With  respect  to  gooseberries  it 


BUSH     FRUITS  105 

may  be  remarked  that  the  English,  French,  and  Ger- 
man varieties  are  mostly  very  different  from  those 
grown  in  America,  and  that  while  they  have  some 
shortcomings  in  our  climate,  they  are  for  the  most 
part  to  be  recommended  for  the  purposes  which  we 
here  have  in  view. 


XII 
FRUIT  TREES  IN  POTS 

THOSE  who  are  used  to  seeing  large  fruit  trees  in 
orchard  plantations  where  each  specimen  has  1,000 
to  2,000  square  feet  of  space,  with  unlimited  op- 
portunities downward,  find  a  fruit  tree  in  a  pot  a 
curiosity.  It  seems  remarkable  to  see  a  tree  in  vigor- 
ous health  and  bearing  fruit  with  less  than  one 
cubic  foot  of  soil.  Nevertheless  this  method  of  hand- 
ling fruit  trees  is  entirely  practicable.  In  some  places 
it  is  practised  extensively  in  an  amateur  way,  and  oc- 
casionally reaches  almost  commercial  proportions.  For 
those  who  grow  fruit  trees  for  recreation  there  could 
hardly  be  a  more  interesting  experiment. 

The  pots  mostly  used  are  the  nine,  ten,  eleven  and 
twelve  inch  standard  earthenware  pots.  With  most 
trees  it  is  best  to  begin  with  small  sizes  and  gradually 
shift  forward  to  the  larger  ones.  A  bearing  tree 
may  be  maintained  for  several  years  in  a  twelve  inch 
pot  or  even  in  a  ten  inch  size.  Sometimes  wooden 
tubs  are  substituted  for  pots.  These  look  better,  but 
are  not  so  good  in  any  other  way. 

Trees  may  be  grown  in  pots  out  of  doors,  although 
there  is  no  particular  advantage  in  doing  this.  If  such 
practise  is  undertaken  the  pots  should  be  plunged 
their  full  depth  in  good  garden  soil.  Perfect  drainage 
should  be  secured  by  having  some  broken  brick  or 
coarse  cinders  underneath. 

106 


FRUIT  TREES  IN  POTS  IO/ 

Usually  potted  trees  are  grown  under  glass.  They 
are  kept  in  a  cool  greenhouse,  that  is  one  with  little 
heat.  Sometimes  they  are  without  artificial  heat. 
In  fact  this  is  probably  the  best  way.  The  houses 
which  are  purposely  constructed  for  fruit  trees  may 
have  a  single  line  of  pipe  if  this  is  convenient,  so  that 
the  chill  may  be  taken  off  the  air  in  severe  cold 
weather.  To  reach  anything  like  real  success,  houses 
must  be  devoted  exclusively  to  fruit  trees.  Occa- 
sionally trees  may  be  grown  with  other  plants,  as  in 
cold  graperies,  but  the  results  are  not  the  best  and 
often  come  very  close  to  failure. 

In  building  houses  for  fruit  trees  exclusively,  the 
even  span  construction  is  nearly  always  used.  Houses 
eighteen  or  twenty  feet  wide,  and  five  feet  high  at 
the  eaves,  will  answer  the  purpose  very  well.  The 
leading  greenhouse  designers  are  prepared  to  furnish 
plans  for  such  houses  and  it  is  usually  best  to  follow 
the  advice  of  their -experts. 

All  kinds  of  fruit  trees  can  be  grown  in  pots.  This 
includes  apples,  pears,  peaches,  plums,  nectarines,  and 
cherries.  Those  which  give  the  best  returns  are 
plums  and  nectarines.  Apples  in  pots  are  very  inter- 
esting and  furnish  a  superior  quality  of  fruit  when 
grown  under  glass.  Apples,  plums  and  nectarines 
take  a  finer  finish  and  a  higher  flavor  when  grown 
in  this  way  than  when  grown  in  any  other. 

All  fruit  trees  to  be  grown  in  pots  should  be  prop- 
agated on  the  dwarfest  of  dwarfing  stocks.  This 
means  practically  that  apples  should  be  on  Paradise, 
pears  on  quince,  peaches  and  nectarines  on  sand  cherry, 


DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 


plum  on  sand  cherry  or  St.  Julien  plum,  and  cherries 
on  Mahaleb. 

The  trees  should  be  potted  in  good  rich  soil,  pref- 


FIG.    41 — A   FRUITING   PEACH    IN   POT 

erably  the  best  garden  loam.  This  should  have 
enough  sand  and  gravel  in  it  to  insure  good  drainage. 
A  considerable  amount  of  drainage  material  should 


FRUIT  TREES  IN  POTS  109 

be  placed  in  the  bottom  of  each  pot.  The  trees  should 
be  repotted  in  fresh  soil  annually  in  October  or  No- 
vember. 

Trees  in  pots  require  liberal  feeding.  Besides  being 
given  well  enriched  earth  at  the  time  of  repotting,  they 
should  be  supplied  from  time  to  time  with  small 
amounts  of  fertilizer.  Good  soluble  chemical  fertili- 
zers can  be  applied  either  dry  or  dissolved.  A  good 
formula  is  one  part  nitrate  of  soda,  two  parts  of 
muriate  of  potash,  two  parts  of  high  grade  phosphoric 
acid.  A  very  little  sprinkling,  say  a  tablespoonful, 
of  this  can  be  given  on  each  pot  once  a  month  during 
the  growing  season  which  lasts  roughly  from  Decem- 
ber to  May.  In  place  of  this,  or  alternately  with  this, 
moderate  waterings  with  liquid  manure  may  also  be 
given.  These  small  doses  of  food  are  especially  use- 
ful at  the  time  when  the  fruit  is  forming  on  the  trees. 

The  trees  are  usually  brought  into  the  house  at 
the  time  of  potting,  say  November  I.  If  early  fruit 
is  desired,  they  are  kept  in  a  house  with  some  heat. 
It  is  necessary  only  that  the  temperature  should  be 
kept  constantly  and  safely  above  the  freezing  point. 
Rapid  forcing  with  a  high  temperature  is  not  desirable 
and  is  hardly  possible.  If  kept  simply  above  the 
freezing  point,  these  trees  will  start  into  growth  in 
January.  They  can  then  be  kept  somewhat  warmer 
during  February,  the  heat  being  slightly  increased  in 
March.  Peaches  and  nectarines  will  stand  fairly 
high  temperatures  after  the  fruit  is  well  set  and  espe- 
cially toward  ripening  time.  By  this  method  of  mild 
forcing,  plums,  peaches,  and  nectarines  can  be  brought 
into  fruit  as  early  as  the  latter  part  of  May. 


no 


DWARF     FRUIT  .  TREES 


The  main  crop  of  potted  fruits,  however,  need  not 
be  expected  until  June  or  July ;  that  is  not  very  much 
in  advance  of  the  outdoor  crop.  The  object  of  grow- 
ing fruit  under  glass  is  not  so  much  to  force  it  ahead 


FIG.   42 — A   FIG   TREE   IN    A   POT 

of  season  as  it  is  to  improve  the  quality.  Trees  which 
are  to  be  kept  in  a  cool  house  without  heat  need  no 
particular  attention  except  to  see  that  they  are  watered 
occasionally  and  that  some  plant  food  is  given  after 
growth  begins.  Even  if  the  temperature  goes  down 
considerably  below  freezing  during  the  winter  months 


FRUIT  TREES  IN  POTS  III 

in  this  cold  house  where  the  potted  fruit  trees  are,  no 
damage  need  be  expected. 

Of  course,  special  care  will  be  given  to  prevent 
damage  from  attacks  of  fungi  or  insects  which  occa- 
sionally become  troublesome  in  the  houses.  The  small 
size  of  these  trees  makes  such  work  comparatively 
easy. 

The  methods  of  pruning  are  the  same  as  those  rec- 
ommended for  pyramid  and  bush  form  trees.  These 
forms  are  the  most  practical  for  pot  culture,  though 
pot  trees  are  occasionally  trained  in  cordon  forms. 


XIII 
PERSONALIA 

MANY  persons  have  a  strong  prejudice  in  favor  of 
the  concrete.  On  general  principles  they  object  to 
generalities.  They  choose  rather  the  specific  case. 
Personal  experience,  they  say,  means  more  to  them 
than  theory,  even  though  the  theory  be  the  sublimation 
of  all  experience.  For  the  benefit  of  such  people  I 
am  going  to  set  down  an  account  of  some  of  my  own 
attempts  at  growing  dwarf  fruit  trees,  and  to  that  I 
will  add  brief  opinions  and  experiences  of  some  friends 
of  mine. 

The  first  dwarf  fruit  tree  that  I  ever  saw,  so  far  as 
I  remember,  was  in  the  grounds  of  the  Kansas  State 
Agricultural  College  when  I  was  a  student  there.  This 
tree  was  an  apple,  on  Paradise  stock,  and  at  two  years 
after  planting  it  bore  six  or  eight  very  fine  Yellow 
Transparent  apples.  It  was  one  of  several  dwarf 
apples  planted  by  Professor  E.  A.  Popenoe,  but  the 
other  trees  did  not  much  attract  my  attention.  This 
particular  specimen  had  a  straight,  clean  trunk  of  about 
thirty  inches,  after  the  absurd  style  of  heading  dwarf 
apples  practised  in  most  American  nurseries.  But 
the  crown  was  full  and  symmetrical,  and  the  fruit  was 
incomparable.  That  particular  tree  has  always  been 
a  sort  of  ideal  and  inspiration  to  me. 

Later,  when  I  planted  an  orchard  in  Oklahoma,  I 
put  in  some  dwarf  trees,  particularly  pears,  but  I  did 

112 


PERSONALIA  113 

not  stay  there  long  enough  to  see  what  came  of  them. 

The  next  fruit  garden  in  which  I  became  interested 
was  in  Vermont.  This  had  in  it  some  dwarf  pear 
trees,  dwarf  apples  and  dwarf  plums,  and  my  own 
personal  experience  had  fairly  begun.  The  dwarf  ap- 
ples proved  to  be  an  almost  complete  failure,  for  rea- 
sons which  I  can  not  now  satisfactorily  explain.  A 
few  years  later  I  planted  a  few  dwarf  apple  trees  in 
another  Vermont  garden,  where  they  did  reasonably 
well.  But,  at  any  rate,  the  whole  undertaking  was  un- 
satisfactory, for  it  did  not  give  me  a  vital  understand- 
ing of  the  trees.  I  never  got  onto  terms  of  real 
personal  goodfellowship  with  them ;  and  until  a  gard- 
ener does  that  his  work  is  some  sort  of  a  failure. 

The  dwarf  pears  did  somewhat  better.  They  seemed 
to  understand  their  business,  and  they  kept  about  it 
without  much  attention  from  me.  I  never  cared  much 
for  pears,  anyway. 

But  the  plums  were  the  brilliant  success,  at  least 
with  reference  to  my  own  interior  personal  experience. 
Every  plum  tree  meant  something  to  me.  A  stub  of 
a  root  and  two  scrawny  plum  branches  would  at  any 
time  arouse  my  imagination  like  the  circus  posters' 
appeal  to  a  boy.  In  this  Vermont  garden  which  I 
adopted  when  it  was  about  four  years  old,  there  were 
various  plum  trees,  mostly  of  domestica  varieties, 
growing  on  Americana  roots.  They  had  come  from  the 
Iowa  State  College,  where  they  had  been  educated  that 
way.  They  had  been  given  those  Americana  roots,  not 
primarily  to  dwarf  them,  but  to  insure  them  against 
damage  from  the  cold  winters.  The  tops  had  not  been 
cut  back,  and  the  whole  treatment  was  just  such  as 


114  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

would  have  been  applied  to  standards.  Later  I  saw 
the  bad  results  of  this  treatment,  for  several  of  the  trees 
blew  over  in  high  winds.  From  subsequent  experience 
I  feel  sure  that  if  they  had  been  headed  low  at  first, 
if  they  had  been  kept  closely  headed  back  and  other- 
wise handled  like  real  dwarfs,  they  would  have  lived 
to  a  greater  age  and  would  have  made  everybody  hap- 
pier. 

At  this  time  also  I  began,  on  a  somewhat  compre- 
hensive plan,  the  propagation  of  plums  on  all  sorts 
of  stocks,  including  Americana,  Wayland  seedlings, 
Miner  root  cuttings  and  sand  cherry,  all  more  or 
less  efficient  dwarfing  stocks.  By  this  time  I  was  into 
it  head  over  ears,  as  far  as  the  plums  were  concerned. 

This  having  been  the  largest  chapter  in  my  per- 
sonal pomological  experience,  I  suppose  it  ought  to 
form  the  largest  portion  of  this  chapter  in  the  book; 
but  my  plum  work  and  my  experiments  in  propagation 
have  been  so  often  and  so  fully  reported  elsewhere 
that  it  would  be  a  vain  repetition  to  go  over  them 
again  now.  They  are  all  written  down  in  the  proper 
places  where  they  may  be  consulted  by  the  enthusiastic 
or  ill-advised  student. 

And  then  I  came  to  Massachusetts ;  and  here  the 
first  project,  almost,  to  which  my  hand  was  turned 
was  the  installation  of  a  garden  of  dwarf  fruit  trees. 
From  the  following  memorandum  of  the  trees  growing 
in  this  garden  any  reader  may  surmise  the  enjoyment 
I  have  found  in  it.  There  is  one  row  of  dwarf  plum 
trees  set  six  feet  apart  and  trained,  rather  unsatisfac- 
torily, into  bush  form.  The  trees,  were  many  of  them  too 
large  when  they  came  from  France,  and,  though  I  cut 


PERSONALIA  115 

them  back  severely,  they  did  not  form  such  low  bushy 
heads  as  my  ideal  species.  They  are  on  St.  Julien 
roots,  which  serve  the  purposes  in  hand  fairly  well. 
Though  the  trees  had  a  hard  trip  across  the  water  only 
one  out  of  forty-six  has  died  in  three  years.  Unfortu- 
nately these  trees  have  not  yet  borne  fruit, — not  one 
of  them.  Next  year  many  of  them  will  bear.  Earlier 
fruitage  can  certainly  be  secured  on  sand  cherry  stocks 
and  under  other  methods  of  training. 

Besides  the  bush  plums,  the  garden  contains  a  row 
of  upright  cordons.  Most  of  these  were  not  propa- 
gated on  dwarf  stocks  at  all,  and  were  not  expected 
to  suffer  any  such  drastic  training  as  I  have  put  upon 
them.  They  were  taken  from  the  college  nursery  and 
from  the  nurseries  of  several  of  my  correspondents, 
just  wherever  I  could  find  the  varieties  I  wanted,  and 
without  reference  to  the  stocks  on  which  they  were 
growing.  A  few  are  on  Americana  stocks,  several  are 
on  peach  roots  (of  all  things),  and  probably  a  major- 
ity are  growing  on  the  usual  Myrobalan  roots.  These 
trees  are  planted  two  feet  apart  in  the  row  and  are 
tied  up  to  a  trellis  of  chicken  wire.  There  are  about 
thirty  varieties  in  the  row,  numbering  most  of  the 
different  botanical  types  more  frequently  cultivated  in 
Xor.th  America.  Many  of  the  varieties  are  totally  and 
very  obviously  unsuited  to  this  method  of  treatment, 
and  presently  I  will  replace  them  with  more  amenable 
varieties.  But  many  of  the  varieties  have  fruited,  espe- 
cially the  Japanese  kinds,  and  some  of  them,  like  Bur- 
bank,  have  proved  most  unexpectedly  docile.  Alto- 
gether this  row  of  unsuitably  propagated  and  unsuit- 
ably selected  varieties  of  plum  trees  has  been  one  of 


116  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

the  most  interesting,  instructive  and  entertaining  ele- 
ments in  my  dwarf  fruit  garden. 

Next  there  comes  a  trellis  bearing  some  espaliers, 
including  plums,  pears,  apples,  peaches  and  cherries; 
but  these  have  been  recently  planted,  and  as  yet  they 
have  done  nothing  worth  relating. 

There  is  one  row  of  twenty-three  dwarf  pears, 
mostly  trained  in  pyramid  form.  These  have  not  done 
well,  but  the  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  soil  is 
light  and  full  of  gravel,  and  quite  unsuited  to  pear 
or  quince.  Pears  never  thrive  on  it.  Several  of  the 
trees  are  bearing  a  crop  this  year,  but  some  of  the 
trees  are  also  dead,  and  the  whole  row  looks  like  the 
finish  of  a  bargain  sale  on  the  remnant  ribbon  counter. 

The  row  of  upright  cordon  pears  is  a  trifle  better, 
but  that  is  only  an  accident,  I  think.  The  varieties 
which  are  growing  there  seem  to  be  rather  better 
adapted  to  withstand  the  unpropitious  surroundings. 
These  trees  also  are  bearing. 

When  we  come  to  the  two  rows  of  horizontal  cor- 
don apples,  though,  the  real  fun  has  begun.  Nearly 
all  these  trees  are  in  bearing,  and  a  few  of  them  have 
borne  every  year  since  they  were  planted  out.  They 
are  set  only  three  feet  apart  in  the  row,  which  is  not 
enough ;  and  they  suffered  terribly  the  first  year  from 
a  midsummer  attack  of  aphides ;  and  the  pruning  was 
neglected  to  allow  them  to  recover  from  that  scourge, 
so  that  the  form  was  somewhat  injured;  but  they  have 
never  ceased  to  be  a  joy  to  me  and  a  wonderment  to 
visitors.  They  are  mostly  of  European  varieties,  but 
Bismarck  is  the  showiest  and  most  fruitful  one  in  the 
collection,  though  far  from  the  best  to  eat. 


PERSONALIA 


117 


"  Then  there  are  standard  gooseberries  and  currants, 
of  which  there  is  little  to  be  said.  They  haven't  been 
there  long,  but  they  are  at  home  and  are  going  to  stay. 


FIG.    43 — DWARF    PEAR    IN    PYRAMID    FORM 
Two  years  planted  ;  author's  garden 

Next  year  I  am  going  to  put  in  some  gooseberries  and 
currants  in  espalier  form. 

Very  few  persons  know  what  a  medlar  is.     For  the 
benefit  of  the  ignorant  and  to  increase  the  kaleido- 


Il8  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

scopic  effect  on  my  fruit  garden,  I  have  some  medlar 
trees, — Hollandische  Monstrose, — which  I  bought  of 
Louis  Spath,  Baumschulenweg,  Berlin. 

A  wire  trellis,  built  much  like  a  grape  trellis,  only 
higher,  carries  the  row  of  upright  cordon  apples. 
Some  of  these  bore  fruit  the  first  year  they  were 
planted,  and  there  has  been  a  fair  sprinkling  of  fruit 
every  year  since  then.  This  has  been  one  of  the  most 
satisfactory  lots  in  the  make-up. 

There  are  two  rows  containing  forty-six  bush-form 
apples  on  paradise  roots  set  six  feet  apart.  Some  of 
these  have  borne  every  year  since  planting  out,  many 
cf  them  showing  a  good  crop  this  year.  Again  Bis- 
marck is  the  most  fruitful,  but  the  least  pleasing  to 
eat.  Alexander  has  made  a  good  record,  and  ttw 
year  Calville  d'Automne  shows  a  very  pretty  crop.  It 
is  customary  with  visitors,  especially  those  already  in- 
terested in  fruit-growing  and  those  of  a  practical  turn 
of  mind,  to  depart  with  the  judgment  that  "all  those 
other  schemes  are  curious  and  interesting,  but  the 
bush  form  apple  trees  look  the  most  like  business." 
I  think  so  too.  In  fact  my  experience  with  dwarf  ap- 
ples might  be  summarized  by  saying,  "bush  trees  for 
business,  cordons  for  fun." 

One  row  of  peach  trees  on  St.  Julien  plum  roots  set 
fruit  buds  in  abundance  the  first  year,  but  they  were 
killed  by  the  freeze  of  the  following  winter.  The  sec- 
ond year  the  experience  was  the  same,  except  that  the 
tops  froze  with  the  fruit  buds.  New  tops  were  grown 
at  once,  however,  and  the  following  year  nearly  every 
tree  bore  a  small  crop  of  fruit.  Dwarf  peach  trees 
are  worth  while. 


PERSONALIA  IIQ 

This  garden  has  also  a  row  of  cherry  trees,  includ- 
ing Morello,  Richmond  and  Montmorency ;  but  these 
trees  were  set  the  second  year  of  the  garden  making 
and  have  borne  only  a  small  crop  of  sample  cherries. 

The  last  planting  in  this  garden  consists  of  one  row 
of  nectarines,  twenty-two  trees. 

This  little  garden,  containing  considerably  less  than 
a  quarter  of  an  acre  of  land,  has  now  growing  upon 
it  548  fruit  trees  of  the  kinds  named.  And  I  am  not 
yet  done  planting.  There  are  various  other  things  that 
I  want  to  put  in, — quinces,  apricots,  and  perhaps  rasp- 
berries, dewberries,  and  other  bush  fruits.  In  fact, 
I  should  like  to  make  it  a  "Paradise"  like  good  old 
Gerarde's  or  Dodoens',  in  which  all  the  fruits  "good 
for  food  or  physic"  might  be  brought  together  and 
represented  in  a  little  space. 

It  would  be  quite  wrong  to  close  this  experience 
meeting  without  giving  the  observations  and  quoting 
the  opinions  of  some  other  and  better  men.  Patrick 
Barry,  in  his  delightful  "Fruit  Garden,"  recorded  his 
belief  that  dwarf  fruit  trees  were  well  worth  while. 
"The  apple,"  said  he,  "worked  on  the  Paradise,  makes 
a  beautiful  little  dwarf  bush.  We  know  of  nothing 
more  interesting  in  the  fruit  garden  than  a  row  or 
little  square  of  these  miniature  fruit  trees.  They  begin 
to  bear  the  third  year  from  the  bud,  and  the  same  va- 
riety is  always  larger  and  finer  on  them  than  on  stand- 
ards." Speaking  of  pears,  he  said:  "On  the  quince 
stock  the  trees  bear  much  earlier,  are  more  prolific, 
more  manageable,  and  consequently  preferable  for 
small  gardens." 

The  late  Mr.  E.  G.  Lodeman,  who  wrote  the  most 


120  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

comprehensive  American  monograph  on  dwarf  apples, 
concluded  his  essay  rather  pessimistically  in  these 
words:  "From  all  the  evidence  which  I  have  been 
able  to  collect,  therefore,  I  cannot  advise  the  planting 
of  dwarf  apple  trees  for  commercial  rewards,  but  it 
seems  to  me,  nevertheless,  that  they  are  worth  exper- 
imenting with  for  this  purpose."  Mr.  Lodeman  re- 
corded and  endorsed  the  common  opinion  "that  apples 
grown  on  dwarf  trees  are  handsomer  and  of  better 
quality  than  those  grown  upon  standards" ;  but  he 
did  not  seem  to  consider  that  fact  of  much  importance. 

Those  who  are  acquainted  at  the  Lazy  Club  in  Cor- 
nell University,  and  especially  those  who  know  Baili- 
wick, have  heard  of  Professor  L.  H.  Bailey's  dwarf 
apples.  (Fig.  44.)  These  were  planted  six  or  eight 
years  ago,  and  most  of  them  are  now  in  bearing.  There 
are  a  good  many  different  varieties,  nearly  all  French. 
My  understanding  of  the  scheme  is  that  it  was  as 
much  as  half  intended  to  be  a  commercial  venture; 
but  up  to  the  present  time  little  else  but  confusion  and 
fun  have  been  gathered  with  the  fruit  from  those  dwarf 
apple  trees.  When  last  I  asked  the  proprietor  for 
his  experience  with  dwarf  apples  he  said  that  he  was 
having  a  lot  of  experience,  only  he  didn't  know  what 
it  was. 

Dwarf  pears  have  been  planted  frequently,  especially 
in  Western  New  York  and  Michigan.  I  asked  Pro- 
fessor S.  A.  Beach  for  his  observations  of  them,  to 
which  he  replied:  "With  regard  to  dwarf  pears  I  will 
say  that  the  variety  which  is  most  generally  grown  in 
commercial  orchards  is  Bartlett.  Almost  without  ex- 
ception this  is  grown  as  a  standard.  Other  important 


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122  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

commercial  varieties  are  Seckel,  Bosc  and  Winter 
Nelis.  All  these  are  generally  grown  as  standards. 
The  variety  commonly  grown  as  dwarf  is  Angouleme. 
A  few  fruit  growers  of  my  acquaintance  are  making 
some  money  from  orchards  of  dwarf  Angouleme.  The 
other  varieties  which  are  often  propagated  on  dwarf 
stock  as  Clairgeau,  Anjou  and  so  forth,  are  seldom 
profitable.  In  fact  I  have  heard  it  stated  that  outside 
of  Ellwanger  and  Barry's  orchard  there  is  not  a  profit- 
able orchard  of  Anjou  in  this  State.  From  these  state- 
ments I  wish  you  to  derive  the  conclusion  that  in  New 
York  State  under  present  conditions  there  is  little  en- 
couragement for  planting  dwarf  pears  commercially." 

Mr.  E.  W.  Wood,  for  many  years  chairman  of  the 
fruit  committee  of  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural 
Society,  says  that  "under  the  right  conditions  the  dwarf 
pear  tree  is  a  necessity  for  commercial  pear  growing. 
The  growers  in  Revere  and  Cambridge  would  feel 
they  could  not  get  along  without  the  dwarf  trees. 
Putting  the  pear  on  the  quince  stock  does  not  change 
the  wants  of  the  roots  of  the  latter,  and  it  is  no  use 
setting  them  on  a  light,  dry  soil,  as  the  roots  being 
confined  to  a  small  area  of  unsuitable  soil,  will  make 
a  feeble  growth  and  finally  die  outright;  or,  if  in  an 
exposed  situation,  blow  over.  Most  all  the  varieties 
may  be  grown  as  dwarfs.  The  Angouleme  and  Clair- 
geau, both  good  market  varieties,  cannot  be  success- 
fully grown  in  any  other  way." 

Recently  Mr,  M.  B.  Waite  has  written  me  the  let- 
ter quoted  below,  giving  some  conclusions  from  his 
experience  with  dwarf  pears  in  Anne  Arundel  County, 
Maryland.  He  says: 


PERSONALIA  123 

"I  planted  out  1,000  dwarf  pear  trees  nine  years 
ago.  They  were  largely  Duchess  (Angouleme),  but 
there  are  some  Manning,  Howell,  Anjou,  Louise 
Bonne  and  Lawrence.  I  have  not  been  entirely  satis- 
fied with  the  results.  We  have  not  had  the  proper 
quantity  of  fruit.  There  has  been  some  fruit  every 
year  since  the  fourth  year,  and  two  years  ago  there 
was  quite  a  good  crop,  but  nothing  to  compare  with 
the  yield  per  acre  of  Kieffer,  LeConte  and  Garber,  for 
instance.  Of  course,  these  are  higher-priced  fruit  and 
large  yields  are  not  required  for  good  returns.  Only 
the  Duchess  and  Manning,  however,  have  produced 
sufficient  to  pay  at  all,  and  the  orchard  has  not  as 
yet  really  paid  financially.  We  have  a  nice  crop  this 
year,  however,  more  than  the  total  yield  up  to  this 
season,  and  perhaps  from  now  on  we  may  win  out. 
My  dwarf  pears  are  on  a  soil  too  dry  and  sandy  for 
the  best  results,  and  I  think  we  are  at  Washington 
pretty  near  the  southern  limit,  at  least  at  low  altitudes. 
In  the  mountains  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  they 
can  be  grown  further  southward.  They  require  a 
moist,  preferably  clay-loam  soil  even  in  their  naturally 
favored  districts,  such  as  New  England,  New  York 
and  Michigan,  but  such  a  soil  is  still  more  desirable 
when  rather  too  far  south  for  their  normal  range.  They 
require  high  culture,  manuring  and  fertilizing,  and 
thorough  pruning  and  spraying  in  any  locality,  and 
these  requirements  are  still  more  exacting  in  Mary- 
land. A  slight  neglect  in  cultivation,  pruning  or  spray- 
ing in  one  season  results  in  a  mass  of  blooms  the  next 
spring,  but  little  or  no  fruit  set.  Of  course,  this  ex- 
tra attention  which  has  to  be  devoted  to  dwarf  pears 


124  DWARF     FRUIT     TREES 

as  compared  with  Oriental  pears,  peaches,  apples,  etc., 
to  be  profitable  should  result  in  larger  yields,  but 
does  not  usually  do  so  in  this  latitude.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  may  say  in  favor  of  the  dwarf  pear  that  the 
quince  root  is  a  healthy,  reliable  root  for  the  pear  tree ; 
that  the  trees  attain  their  seasonal  growth  early,  and 
therefore  are  not  as  susceptible  to  pear  blight  as  stand- 
ard pears.  Furthermore,  they  are  more  easily  sprayed, 
pruned,  and  otherwise  handled  than  the  high  stand- 
ard trees." 

My  friend,  Mr.  J.  W.  Kerr,  of  the  Eastern  Shore  of 
Maryland,  who  owns  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  pic- 
turesque orchards  of  dwarf  pears  I  ever  saw,  says  that 
Angouleme  (Duchess)  is  the  only  variety  that  pays 
for  growing  in  that  form. 

Thus  the  experience  of  many  men  in  many  parts 
of  America  sums  up  as  we  began.  The  conclusion  of 
the  whole  matter  seems  to  be  about  this :  Dwarf  fruit 
trees  have  not  yet  played  any  prominent  role  in  Ameri- 
can commercial  horticulture ;  but  they  have  been  profit- 
able in  a  few  special  cases,  and  the  probability  seems 
strong  almost  to  the  point  of  certainty  that,  with  the 
development,  refinement  and  specialization  of  our  com- 
mercial fruit  growing,  a  wider  field  of  usefulness  will 
be  opened  for  dwarf  trees.  In  the  realm  of  amateur1 
fruit  growing,  an  the  other  hand, — a  realm  now  daily 
widening, — dwarf  fruit  trees  are  of  capital  importance. 
The  owners  and  renters  of  small  grounds,  the  culti- 
vators of  little  gardens — the  great  majority  of  Ameri- 
can home-makers,  in  fact, — will  find  in  them  an  un- 
failing source  of  pleasure,  inspiration,  and  even  of 
profit. 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Advantages  of  dwacf  trees  ...  8 

.Apple,  propagation  of 23 

Apples 63 

Apples,  recommended  varieties  72 

Bailey,       H.,  quoted 120 

Barry's  "Fruit  Garden".    ...  119 

Bismarck  apple 7 

Boundary  fences 16 

Bush  fruits 99 

Commercial  value 20 

Cordon  trees 46 

Currants lot 

Definition  of  dwarf  tree   ....  I 
Designs     for     fruit     gardens 

53-  55,  59.  61 

Disadvantages  of  dwarf  trees  .  18 

Double-working 27 

Doucin  apple 26 

Dwarf  tree,  definition i 

Early  bearing 8 

Erwin,  A.  T.,  quoted 29 

Expense  of  dwarf  trees    ....  18 

Fertilizers 54 

Fillers  in  orchards 13 

Forms  for  trees 41 

Gooseberries 101 

Heading  young  trees 32 

Houses  for  dwarf  fruits  ....  107 

J.  W.  Kerr,  quoted 124 

Lodeman,  E.  G.,  quoted  ....  119 

Longevity  of  dwarf  trees.   ...  19 

Management  of  dwarf  trees  .   .  51 

Management  of  trees  in  pots.  .  109 


PAGE 

Nectarine,  propagation  of  ...  28 

Nursery  management 31 

Paradise  apple 24 

Peach,  propagation  of 27 

Peaches 83 

Pear,  propagation  of 26 

Pears 76 

Pears,  recommended  varieties  .  81 

Personalia U2 

Pinching 35 

Plum,  propagation  of 28 

Plums 9° 

Plums,  recommended  varieties  97 

Pots  for  fruit  trees 106 

Propagation 22 

Pruning  apple  trees 68 

Pruning  dwarf  trees 33 

Pruning  peach  trees 86 

Pruning  plum  trees 92 

Pyramid  tree 42 

Quality  of  fruit 10 

Root  pruning 36 


Sand  cherry 3° 

San  Jose  scale 10 

School  gardens 15 

Selection  of  varieties 60 

Suburban  places 12 

Tillage 54 

Training  in  special  forms  ...  33 

Trellises  for  trees 58 

V-form  trees 44 

Uses  for  dwarf  trees 12 

Waite,  M.  B..  quoted 122 

Walls  and  fences 15 

Walls  for  dwarf  trees 57 

Wood,  E.  W.,  quoted 122 

125 


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(15) 


Farmer's  Cyclopedia 
of  Agriculture 


A  Compendium  of  Agricultural  Science  and  Prac- 
tice on  Farm,  Orchard  and  Garden  Crops,  and  the 
Feeding  and  Diseases  of  Farm  Animals  ..... 

EARLEY   VERNON   WILCOX,    Ph.  D. 
on?   CLARENCE    BEAMAN   SMITH,    M.  S 

Associate  Editors  in  the  Office  of  Experiment  Stations,  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture 

TIHIS    is    a    new,    practical,    and    complete 
I    presentation  of  the  whole  subject  of  ag- 
riculture in  its  broadest  sense.    It  is  de- 
signed for  the  use  of  agriculturists  who 
desire   up-to-date,    reliable   information 
on  all  matters  pertaining  to  crops  and  stock,  but 
more   particularly    for   the   actual    farmer.     The 
volume  contains 

Detailed  directions  lor  the  culture  of  every 
important  field,   orchard,   and   garden   crop 

^fown  in  America,  together  with  descriptions  of 
their  chief  insect  pests  and  fungous  diseases,  and 
remedies  for  their  control.  It  contains  an  ac- 
count of  modern  methods  in  feeding  and  handling 
all  farm  s*:ock,  including  poultry.  The  diseases 
which  affect  different  farm  animals  and  poultry 
are  described,  and  the  most  recent  remedies  sug- 
gested for  controlling  them. 

Every  bit  of  this  vast  mass  of  new  and  useful 
information  is  authoritative,  practical  and  easily 
found,  and  no  effort  has  been  spared  to  include 
all  desirable  details.  There  are  between  6,000 
and  7,000  topics  covered  in  these  references,  and 
it  contains  700  royal  8vo  pages  and  nearly  500 
superb  half-tone  and  other  original  illustrations, 
making  the  most  perfect  Cyclopedia  of  Agricul- 
ture ever  attempted. 

Handsomely  bound  in  cloth.  £3.5O;  half  morocco 
(tfery  jttmplttottj).  £4-.5O,  postpaid 


ORANGE  JUDD  COMPANY, 3' 


People's  Gas  Building.  Chicago.  IN. 

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OC 


LD  21A-50w-9,'67 


General  Library 

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